Web Desk
Indian government has not communicated the date and other information about the first consignment of wheat to Afghanistan despite the fact that Pakistan placed all the necessary arrangements to facilitate India at Wagha border about three weeks ago.
“Pakistan had allowed India to transport wheat using its land route to Afghanistan on an exceptional basis,” Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar told the weekly news conference in the capital Islambad on Friday.
“We have conveyed to the India side, necessary details of arrangements put in place by Pakistan, and for about 3 weeks now, are awaiting further response from India of the date of dispatch and other information regarding the first consignment, ” the spokesperson added.
India announced to donate 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan as humanitarian assistance in October and sought Pakistan permission to transport food grain through the Wagah border.
Pakistan after careful consideration granted the permission but the two sides locked horns over the modalities. Since Pakistan otherwise never permits the two-way trade between India and Afghanistan through its borders, it initially proposed that wheat should be transported through Pakistani trucks under the UN banner.
New Delhi, however, made a counter-proposal, insisting that either the Indian or Afghan trucks should be used for the transportation. After many weeks of back and forth communication, the two sides finally agreed that the wheat would be transported through the Afghan trucks, according to English newspaper, Daily Express Tribune.
Officials said a list of Afghan truck drivers and contractors had already been finalized by both sides. But despite those arrangements, the foreign office said India had yet to kick start the transportation of wheat to Afghanistan.
The statement of the foreign office spokesperson suggested that the delay was on part of India.
