Another consignment of 2,000 metric tons of wheat as humanitarian assistance from the government of India was dispatched for Afghanistan via the Attari-Wagah border on Monday.
The Commissioner of Customs, Rahul Nangare flagged off the consignment as the wheat-loaded trucks with a message on them reading ‘Gift from the people of India to the people of Afghanistan’ moved to cross the borders.
Commissioner said, “The Indian government has promised to provide 50,000 metric tons of wheat to Afghanistan, to which we have sent 10,000 metric tons of wheat already. From the remaining 40,000 metric tons today we are sending the first consignment of 2,000 metric tons of wheat.”
Earlier, India announced that it will send 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat to Afghanistan overland through Pakistan.
The first consignment of humanitarian aid of 2,500 tonnes of wheat from India reached Afghanistan’s Jalalabad through Pakistan on February 26.
The second convoy of India’s humanitarian assistance carrying 2,000 MTs of wheat left Attari, Amritsar on March 3 for Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the MEA had said.
Moreover, India sent the third consignment of 2,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan in 40 trucks via the Attari-Wagah border on March 8.
The fourth consignment of 2,000 metric tonnes of wheat was dispatched for Afghanistan via the Attari-Wagah border on March 15.
The Government of Pakistan in November 2021 had approved, as a special gesture to the Afghan people, the transportation of 50,000 MTs of wheat and life-saving medicines as humanitarian assistance from India to Afghanistan via the Wagah border on an exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes, as per a press release by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The time period granted for transportation of the humanitarian assistance expired on 21 March 2022.
The Government of India requested for extension in the time period to complete the transportation process after which India was granted two months extension for the transportation of 50,000 Metric Tonnes (MTs) of wheat and life-saving medicines as humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
“As a manifestation of our sincere efforts towards addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, it has been decided to grant two months’ extension to facilitate completion of the transportation. All the modalities shall remain the same as earlier communicated to the Indian side,” said the press release by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.(