India supplies fourth batch of life-saving medicines to Afghanistan

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said, “India stands committed to continue our special relationship with the people of Afghanistan and provide humanitarian assistance.”

India has already supplied three shipments of medical assistance, consisting of five lakh doses of Covid vaccines and essential life-saving medicines to Afghanistan. The same was handed over to the WHO and India Gandhi Children Hospital in Kabul.

In the coming weeks, the MEA said, “we would be supplying more batches of humanitarian assistance consisting of medicines and foodgrains for the people of Afghanistan.”

India’s wheat shipment to Afghanistan as part of its humanitarian aid to the trouble-torn country through the Pakistani soil is expected to start early next month as New Delhi and Islamabad have finally agreed on the modalities after months of discussions. The shipment would start in early February, officials said.

Initially, according to Pakistan media reports, Pakistan wanted the transportation of humanitarian assistance goods to Kabul in its trucks under the banner of the United Nations.

But India made a counter proposal and wanted the foodgrains to be shipped to Afghanistan either in Indian or Afghan trucks. The two sides then agreed that wheat would be carried by Afghan trucks and a list of Afghan contractors was shared with Pakistan.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad told reporters on Friday that all arrangements were now put in place and Pakistan was waiting for the date of the first consignment.

India had sent a proposal to Pakistan on October 7 last year seeking the transit facility to send 50,000 tonne of wheat and life-saving medicines to the people of Afghanistan via the Pakistani soil and it received a response from Islamabad on November 24.

Asked about humanitarian aid to Afghanistan at an online media briefing in New Delhi Friday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the government is committed to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, comprising foodgrains, Covid vaccines and essential life-saving drugs.

“During the last few weeks, 3.6 tonne of medical assistance and 5,00,000 doses of Covid vaccines have been supplied,” he said.

The process to procure wheat and to arrange its transportation is currently underway, he said, adding that this takes some time.

On January 7, India had delivered two tonne of essential life-saving medicines to Afghanistan. After mid-August, when Kabul fell to the Taliban, India had recently supplied five lakh doses of Covid vaccine and 1.6 tonne of medical assistance to Afghanistan through the World Health Organization (WHO).

On January 1, for the first time since Kabul fell to the Taliban, India sent five lakh doses of Covaxin to Afghanistan as a “gift for the people of Afghanistan”. They were taken from India to Afghanistan via flight.