Pakistan has sent India a list of conditions before Indian aid can enter Afghanistan. The new terms come days after Pakistan officially announced that it would “allow 50,000 tons of wheat and life-saving medicines to be transported through Wagah as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.”
Officials on both sides are busy breaking this new humanitarian aid impasse for Afghanistan. Sources have told India Today that Islamabad has sent a number of conditions, two of which are the most worrying.
Read: World Bank is considering humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
First, Pakistan insists that supplies must be transported by Pakistani trucks. The Indian side has suggested that if not Indian, then at least Afghan trucks could transport the material to Afghanistan. Afghan trucks also used these roads to transport goods and materials in the past. But the Pakistani side insists on Pakistani trucks for the time being.
Second, Pakistan wants to charge shipping fees for aid supplies to Afghanistan. India insists that there is no additional cost for humanitarian aid.
Talks are ongoing to come to an understanding so that aid can reach the Afghan people through the United Nations organizations at the earliest. While loading and unloading in Wagah could cause logistical problems, India is still open to Afghan trucks transporting the material back to their homeland.
Read: Working with Pak on modalities to send aid to Afghanistan across its territory, MEA says
On November 24th, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated: “As a gesture of goodwill towards the fraternal Afghan people, the Pakistani government has decided to allow the transportation of 50,000 tons of wheat and life-saving medicines from India across the Wagah border to Afghanistan on an exceptional base for humanitarian purposes. “
“The relevant decision of the Pakistani government was officially communicated today to the Charge d’Affaires of India at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi had said during his weekly briefing on Friday that there was no deadline for aid to Afghanistan, but with winter approaching, India sought to send aid as early as possible.
Bagchi said: “There is no deadline for such things, but all countries in the region have agreed on the humanitarian situation and their determination that aid will be given. They demanded unhindered and unhindered access for goods and workers. “
“They didn’t have a deadline in mind, but as winter approaches, there are worrying reports of the dire humanitarian situation. I hope this joint call from the region’s security chiefs would stimulate the movement on the ground, ”he said.
India proposed sending aid to Afghanistan on October 7th and Pakistan accepted it on November 24th.
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