PESHAWAR: Under an agreement, Afghanistan trucks will be allowed to transport wheat from India via Pakistan’s Wagah border from February 21.
The Associated Press has reported that the loaded trucks will return to Jalalabad via the Torkham crossing point.
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The arrangement comes more than three months after India announced 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines for Afghanistan. Pakistan had also announced that it will allow the transport of Indian wheat through its territory to help Taliban contain the humanitarian crisis.
Afghanistan’s economy is on the brink of collapse after the Taliban took power in August, last year. The United Nations recently appealed for $5 billion in aid to Afghanistan and warned that one million children are at risk of starvation. The UN said that 90% of Afghans live below the poverty line with a daily income of just over one dollar. Pakistan has also sent food and medicine and also announced financial support.
Like the rest of the world, Pakistan and India have not yet recognised the Taliban government. Prior to the Taliban’s takeover, India had provided operational training and military equipment to Afghan forces even though it had no troops on the ground to fight the Taliban. The Indian government had provided every possible support to the Ashraf Ghani administration and constructed several water reservoirs.
Pakistan Foreign Office has stated that the decision to use Afghanistan’s frozen assets must be made independently by the people of Afghanistan. The United States President Joe Biden has signed an executive order on February 11, releasing $7 billion from Afghanistan’s frozen financial assets. The United States will set up a charitable fund in the coming months to manage half of that $7 billion, with the remaining $3.5 billion will be spend by the people affected by terrorism.