NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday announced a new tranche of assistance of 20,000 tons of wheat to Afghanistan.
Shipments will be sent through Chabahar port in Iran.
The announcement was made during the first meeting of the India-Central Asia Joint Working Group on Afghanistan.
India has said it will extend wheat assistance to the war-torn nation in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, India announced an assistance of 50,000 tons of grain to the Afghan people as they faced a severe food crisis.
Subsequently, shipments were sent to Afghanistan using the overland route through Pakistan.
Islamabad granted the transit facility after nearly months of discussions.
“The parties took note of the current humanitarian situation and agreed to continue providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people,” the statement said.
‘Afghan soil should not be used for terror’
At the meeting, India and five Central Asian countries also said Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for terrorist activities and called for the formation of a “truly inclusive” political structure in Kabul that respects the rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities.
A joint statement said the meeting underlined the importance of forming a “truly inclusive and representative political structure” that respects the rights of all Afghans and guarantees equal rights for women, girls and members of minority groups, including the access to education.
In December, India joined several other leading countries in criticizing the Taliban’s decision to ban university education for women in Afghanistan.
The statement said officials at the deliberations discussed the regional threats of terrorism, extremism, radicalization and drug trafficking and also deliberated on possibilities to coordinate efforts to counter these threats.
He said he stressed that “the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to host, train, plan or finance terrorist acts and reiterated that no terrorist organization, including those designated by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267, should be provided refuge or permitted to use the territory of Afghanistan”.
In addition to the host India, the meeting was attended by special envoys or senior officials from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. National representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) also attended the meeting.
(With inputs from PTI)
Shipments will be sent through Chabahar port in Iran.
The announcement was made during the first meeting of the India-Central Asia Joint Working Group on Afghanistan.
India has said it will extend wheat assistance to the war-torn nation in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, India announced an assistance of 50,000 tons of grain to the Afghan people as they faced a severe food crisis.
Subsequently, shipments were sent to Afghanistan using the overland route through Pakistan.
Islamabad granted the transit facility after nearly months of discussions.
“The parties took note of the current humanitarian situation and agreed to continue providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people,” the statement said.
‘Afghan soil should not be used for terror’
At the meeting, India and five Central Asian countries also said Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for terrorist activities and called for the formation of a “truly inclusive” political structure in Kabul that respects the rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities.
A joint statement said the meeting underlined the importance of forming a “truly inclusive and representative political structure” that respects the rights of all Afghans and guarantees equal rights for women, girls and members of minority groups, including the access to education.
In December, India joined several other leading countries in criticizing the Taliban’s decision to ban university education for women in Afghanistan.
The statement said officials at the deliberations discussed the regional threats of terrorism, extremism, radicalization and drug trafficking and also deliberated on possibilities to coordinate efforts to counter these threats.
He said he stressed that “the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to host, train, plan or finance terrorist acts and reiterated that no terrorist organization, including those designated by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267, should be provided refuge or permitted to use the territory of Afghanistan”.
In addition to the host India, the meeting was attended by special envoys or senior officials from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. National representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) also attended the meeting.
(With inputs from PTI)
