Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla flagged off a convoy of 50 trucks carrying 2500 MT of wheat as humanitarian aid for Afghanistan at the India-Pakistan integrated check post (ICP) on Tuesday, the first of about 1000 truckloads which will head for Jalalabad over the next few weeks.
The wheat, is expected to be sent across Afghanistan to help people deal with the crisis caused by food shortages and an economic collapse after the Taliban takeover of Kabul, and was made “in response to appeals made by the United Nations for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Traders and truckers in Amritsar also welcomed the trans-shipment, which is taking place after being suspended for nearly three years, and expressed the hope that the opening for Afghan aid would also lead to a reopening of India and Pakistan trade, whose closure has caused massive economic losses in the border town.
