India has sent 500,000 doses of badly needed Covid vaccines to Afghanistan as part of the humanitarian assistance it had earlier promised after the Taliban’s takeover in August, which plunged into what many call the worst humanitarian crisis. Due to a critical shortage of vaccines, Afghanistan is among the poorest vaccinated nations. 

“Today, India supplied the next batch of humanitarian assistance consisting of 500,000 doses of COVID vaccine (COVAXIN) to Afghanistan. The same was handed over to the Indira Gandhi Hospital, Kabul,” read a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). 

The ministry further added that India has committed to providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people consisting of food grains, one million doses of Covid vaccine, and essential life-saving drugs.

The recent assistance is in addition to the 1.6 tonnes of medicines that New Delhi had sent last month through the World Health Organization (WHO). 

In August, the Taliban seized power in the country in a violent takeover, pushing the country’s already struggling economy to the brink of complete collapse. The country has been facing a severe shortage of food and medicine. Over 1 million children are at risk of death due to severe malnutrition, UN agencies have warned. 

During a meeting with Taliban representatives in Moscow, Indian officials had offered to provide 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and essential medicines to Afghans, who have been going through a “tough” time. 

New Delhi had closed down its embassy in Kabul, and four other consulates following the Taliban takeover in August. In the last twenty years, India had spent close to three billion dollars on various high-impact people-centric projects in the war-torn country. 

In the statement released on Wednesday, the MEA said, “In coming weeks, we would be undertaking the supply of wheat and the remaining medical assistance. In this regard, we are in touch with UN agencies and others for finalizing the modalities for transportation.”

Currently, India and Pakistan are in talks to finalize modalities for the wheat shipment which will pass through Pakistan, which did not allow Indian trucks to transit that country.  

(SAM)