India sends 8,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan, as UN accuses world of failing to help
- In total, India plans to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan on an infrequently used land route through Pakistan, with 2,000 tonnes already being sent in February
- UN special envoy for Afghanistan this week accused the international community of not doing enough to revive the country’s economy
India will send 8,000 tonnes of wheat in March to Afghanistan, the government said on Saturday, in a bid to help the country facing poverty and hunger since the takeover by the Taliban last year.
In total, India plans to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan on an infrequently used land route through Pakistan, with 2,000 tonnes already being sent in February.
Permission for such a convoy is rare, with Pakistan having barred the entry of goods from India for years as the relationship between the two nuclear-armed nations has deteriorated.
Since the United States froze Afghanistan’s dollar-denominated assets, the Taliban-led administration has been using wheat as payment for thousands of government workers, mostly labourers, as the country’s financial crisis intensifies.
India’s donation comes just days after the UN special envoy for Afghanistan accused the international community of not doing enough to revive the country’s economy as it heads toward “a point of irreversibility,” while the US said it was the responsibility of the ruling Taliban to create the conditions for economic stability.