Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
Related Articles
- India will send its next consignment of wheat as aid to Afghanistan under the Taliban regime via Chabahar.
- The decision, announced at the first meeting of the India-Central Asia Joint Working Group (JWG) on Afghanistan in Delhi, came after the agreement with Pakistan for sending the wheat over the land route expired, and talks on extending the time have failed to proceed.
- While India had sent about 40,000 tonnes of the 50,000 tonnes promised after an agreement with the previous Imran Khan government, the shipments had to be called off after floods in Pakistan, and the time allowed by Pakistan ran out.
- India has used the Chabahar route in the past, prior to 2021, to send shipments of wheat to Afghanistan
- To address the current humanitarian situation, Indian side announced its partnership with UNWFP (UN World Food Programme) for the delivery of 20,000 tonnes of wheat for Afghan people through the Chabahar Port
- The JWG meeting comes more than a year after the India-Central Asia summit in January 2022, where the decision to hold a special contact group on Afghanistan was announced.
- At the JWG, India also agreed to offer “customised capacity building courses” for UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) officials and cooperate on initiatives to counter drug trafficking and rehabilitation efforts for Afghan drug users, especially women.
- The meet comes even as other Indian and Central Asian officials are taking part in a string of meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that India is hosting this year.
SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB
