‘No conditionalities should be there for sending humanitarian aid to Af’
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday said discussions with Pakistan are going on to finalise the modalities for the transportation of its aid to Afghanistan through Pakistani soil and insisted that no conditionalities should be attached for sending the humanitarian assistance.
New Delhi had sent a proposal to Islamabad on October 7 seeking the transit facility to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines to the people of Afghanistan via Pakistani soil and it received a response from Pakistan on November 24. Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said at a media briefing that the modalities to send aid are being worked out.
"We had been looking to supply 50,000 tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines to the Afghan people. Since then we have had discussions with Pakistan on the modalities of the supply. These discussions are ongoing," Bagchi said.
"Let me reiterate our belief that humanitarian assistance should not be subject to conditionalities, and as I said since the discussions are ongoing, we will share further updates
We had been looking to supply 50,000 tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines to the Afghan people. Since then we have had discussions with Pakistan on the modalities of the supply
as and when we have them," he added.
It is learnt that the modalities for the transportation of the Indian aid are yet to be thrashed out as Islamabad has put certain conditions for providing the transit facility.
According to people familiar with the matter, Pakistan has insisted that the consignments of wheat and medicines to Afghanistan are transported on Pakistani trucks from the Wagah border point while India favoured using its own transport.
India is keen on ensuring that aid reaches the intended beneficiaries without being diverted and wants the distribution of the relief materials through a credible international agency, they said.
Asked about the follow up on the NSA-level dialogue on Afghanistan hosted by India recently, Bagchi said it was an opportunity for countries having similar perspectives to share views and identify from a security perspective what is the way forward.
He said issues were identified and India continues to be part of discussions on Afghanistan with various countries in different formats.
India hosted a regional dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10 that was attended by NSAs of Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In the dialogue, the participants vowed to work towards ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for global terrorism and called for the formation of an "open and truly inclusive" government in Kabul.
A declaration released at the end of the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan said Afghan territory should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing any terrorist acts and that officials lent strong support for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan.