India to send wheat, medical aid to Afghanistan

India plans to send food and medical aid to Afghanistan amid warnings that the Taliban-controlled nation could face a catastrophic famine this winter, according to a report by the Times of India.

India is considering options to transport 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat and medical aid to Afghanistan, per the report.

India may transport the aid to Afghanistan via the Attari-Wagah border. This, however, will be subject to Pakistan’s approval as it does not allow two-way trade for India and Afghanistan via this border.

India is in touch with Pakistan to resolve this issue, according to the report.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for “urgent and unhindered” humanitarian assistance to Afghan citizens.

Speaking at the G20 summit on Afghanistan, PM Modi had noted that the Afghan people have a great feeling of friendship for India and that every Indian feels the pain of Afghan people facing hunger and malnutrition.

Meanwhile, UN World Food Programme (WFP) had earlier said it is in touch with India to donate wheat to Afghanistan.

“This conversation has been going on for a couple of weeks now. So hopefully we can bring that to a good conclusion and hopefully would see another donation coming in because again as I said, there’s a wheat deficit of 2.5 million tons this year in Afghanistan. So, really we need all the help we can get,” representative and Country Director of WFP Afghanistan Mary-Ellen McGroarty had said.

Last year, India had donated 75,000 metric tons of wheat as an aid for Afghan citizens. The wheat had come through the Chabahar port.The food grains assistance is part of India’s humanitarian and economic assistance program.

Source : Money Control

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