India sends wheat to Afghanistan via Iran instead of Pakistan

New Delhi, Mar 08: India and the five Central Asian states on Tuesday discussed ways to jointly counter regional threats of terrorism and extremism and asserted that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for training or planning any terrorist act. The first meeting of the India-Central Asia joint working group on Afghanistan in New Delhi focused on threats related to terrorism, extremism, and drug trafficking as well as the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country. The special envoys and senior officials who attended the meeting emphasized the importance of forming a “truly inclusive and representative political structure” in Afghanistan.

 

 

 

India announced at the meeting that it will work in partnership with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to supply 20,000 tonnes of wheat as assistance to Afghanistan through Iran’s Chabahar port. India earlier supplied about 40,000 tonnes of wheat through land routes via Pakistan but faced numerous bureaucratic and technical hurdles. The meeting was attended by special envoys and senior officials of India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Country representatives of WFP and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) participated in the meeting.

 

 

 

The officials exchanged views on Afghanistan, including the political, security, and humanitarian situation. They discussed regional threats of terrorism, extremism, radicalization, and drug trafficking and “deliberated on the possibilities to coordinate efforts to counter these threats”, according to a joint statement issued after the meeting. The officials emphasized that the “territory of Afghanistan should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing any terrorist acts and reaffirmed that no terrorist organizations including those designated by the UNSC resolution 1267 should be provided sanctuary or allowed to use the territory of Afghanistan”. Among the groups banned under the UN Security Council resolution 1267 are al-Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Lashkar-e-Taiba. All three groups currently have thousands of fighters based in Afghanistan, according to reports from the UN team that monitors sanctions under resolution 1267. The officials further emphasized the “importance of formation of a truly inclusive and representative political structure that respects the rights of all Afghans and ensures equal rights of women, girls, and members of minority groups, including access to education”. While emphasizing respect for Afghanistan’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and non-interference in its internal affairs, all the countries reiterated their “support for a peaceful, secure, and stable Afghanistan”. The country representative of the WFP in Afghanistan briefed the meeting on the organization’s partnership with India to deliver food grain assistance to the Afghan people and made a presentation on the current humanitarian situation, including the aid requirements for 2023. All the participants agreed to continue providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

 

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The country representative of UNODC in Afghanistan highlighted the partnership with India to fight narcotics in Afghanistan. The representative also thanked India for providing humanitarian aid to help the Afghan drug user population. In response to a request, India offered to organize training courses in countering illegal drug trafficking for stakeholders and partner agencies of UNODC and officials of Central Asian states. The participants agreed to continue consultations in the format of the joint working group on a regular basis.