India donates 10,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India has signed the second agreement with the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) under which it will donate another 10,000 metric tons of wheat to Afghanistan.

“Government of India and the United Nations World Food Program signed the second ‘In-kind Contribution Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and WFP for the donation of next batch of 10,000 MTs of wheat to the People of Afghanistan,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

India intends to provide Afghanistan with a total of 50,000 tonnes of wheat.

“As of now, the first tranche of 10,000 MTs of wheat has been successfully delivered to Afghanistan and delivery of the next batch of 10,000 MTs of wheat is in the process,” MEA added.

Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last August that led caused economic disarray and food shortages that have pushed the country to the brink of a humanitarian crisis.

Last week, V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs said India has historical and civilizational ties with Afghanistan. India’s development partnership with Afghanistan included projects spread across each of the 34 provinces of the country in critical areas such as power, water supply, road connectivity, health care, education, agriculture and capacity building.

“In the last two years, India has contributed to the humanitarian requirements of the people of Afghan. This includes 75,000 MTs of wheat (2020), COVID related medical supplies (June 2020) and 500,000 doses of COVID vaccine (January 2021),” he added. (ANI)