Pakistan has said that it is waiting for a response from the Indian government regarding the transportation of the wheat shipment to Afghanistan that New Delhi had pledged as part of its assistance to help Afghans. Both countries have been talking for over three months to finalize the modalities of the shipment that would pass through Pakistan.

“We have conveyed to the India side, necessary details of arrangements put in place by Pakistan, and for about 3 weeks now, are awaiting further response from India of the date of dispatch and other information regarding the first consignment,'' Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

New Delhi, he said, has yet to communicate the date and other information about the first consignment that would be transported through the Wagah border. There was no immediate response from the Indian foreign ministry on the issue. 

India had announced to donate 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan as humanitarian assistance in October and sought Pakistan permission to transport food grain through the Wagah border, which the latter had granted—after holding it for weeks—on an “exceptional basis.” 

However, reports in Indian media indicated that the delay is from the Pakistani side. For its own geopolitical interests, Islamabad doesn’t give land transit permits to Indian trucks for trade with Afghanistan. Furthermore, the shipment was bogged down due to artificial hurdles created by Pakistan. 

Pakistan had initially proposed that wheat should be transported through Pakistani trucks under the UN banner—which India had rejected, and suggested it should be transported by Afghan trucks using Afghan drivers.  

Now, reports said a list of Afghan truck drivers and contractors had already been finalized by both sides. 

Interestingly, the delays have also prompted New Delhi to explore the shipment through Iran’s Chahabar port. Officials of both countries had also held talks on the issue. The Taliban has so far not commented on the issue. 

(SAM)