Afghanistan Times
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AT News Report-KABUL: After a shining win against Pakistan in the opening match of the International Cricket Council (ICC) under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, there is another victory for the Afghan masses as the first consignment of more than 2,400 tons of wheat from India reached Kabul on Saturday.
Now, we have double reasons to celebrate cricket victory against our hostile neighbor—Pakistan, and the arrival of wheat shipment by our time-tested friend—India, have brought more joys to Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Agriculture said the wheat would be stored in seven provinces—will use it, as per need.
It is part of at least 30,000 tons of wheat so far shipped to Afghanistan through Chabahar port, bypassing Pakistan—a state that always closed its trade routes against us while International Community, especially the US pressurized the country for its support and financial backing to the various militant outfits that have been actively engaged in bleeding Afghanistan and undermining US and NATO interests in the region.
Minister of Agriculture Naseer Ahmad Durrani and Charge d’Affairs of India in Afghanistan Alok Ranjan Jha attended an event in Kabul to welcome the arrival of the shipment.
“The 2,440 tons of wheat will be stored in government storages in Ghazni, Nangarhar, Herat, Laghman, Kandahar, Helmand and Kabul provinces,” the minister said.
According to him, the government has purchased 100,000 tons of wheat from Uzbekistan which have been stored in government storages in north and northeastern provinces –Balkh, Kunduz, Badakhshan, and Takhar.
“We want to store 3,000 tons of wheat in Helmand, 2,000 tons in Ghazni, 18,000 tons in Herat, 15,000 tons in Kandahar, 63,000 tons in Kabul, 1,000 tons in Laghman and 8,000 tons in Nangarhar provinces,” he added.
The new route (Chabahar Port) will provide the opportunity for a greater trade in the region, Charge d’Affairs of India in Afghanistan, Alok Ranjan Jha, said in the welcoming event.
“Afghanistan is a landlocked country. It is its international right to have access to trade which is being denied by a particular country in the region, and it is very important for India, Afghanistan and the region beyond to make sure that this new trade route flourishes, develops and provides all out countries in the region more opportunities for greater trade,” he added.
The shipment is part of 1.1 million of wheat pledged by India to Afghanistan in 2002. More than 700,000 tons of wheat has already been supplied to Afghanistan which is part of the 110,000 tons that will arrive to the country in a year.
