India and five central Asian countries on Tuesday asserted that Afghanistan’s soil must not be used for any terrorist activities and called for formation of a “truly inclusive” political structure in Kabul that respects rights of all Afghans including women and minorities.
At the first meeting of the India-Central Asia joint working group on Afghanistan, New Delhi also announced a fresh tranche of assistance of 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan and the consignments will be sent through the Chabahar Port in Iran.
The situation in the war-ravaged country came up for extensive deliberations at the first meeting of the India-Central Asia joint working group on Afghanistan that took place in Delhi.
In December, India joined several other leading countries in criticising the Taliban’s decision to ban university education for women in Afghanistan.
Besides host India, the meeting was attended by special envoys or senior officials of the Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Country representatives of the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and UN World Food Programme (UNWFP) also participated in the meeting.
India announced the supply of 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat assistance to Afghanistan in partnership with UNWFP through Chabahar Port, the joint statement said.
Months after the Taliban captured power in Kabul in August 2021, India had announced an assistance of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghan people as they were reeling under a severe food crisis. Subsequently, the consignments were sent to Afghanistan using the land route through Pakistan. Islamabad had granted the transit facility after nearly months of discussions.
