India and Pakistan are still working out the modalities of sending 50,000 MT of wheat as humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan via the land route, which is a “complex operation”, India's Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday, not responding to questions on why it was not sent via Iran.

Asked about the status of the wheat shipment via road to Afghanistan and whether it could have been sent via sea through the Chabahar port which India is helping to develop as a conduit to Afghanistan and Central Asia, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: ”Let me reiterate our special relationship with the people of Afghanistan and the approach of India as well as the international community and the UNSC resolution 2593 that guides us.

“We will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan such as life-saving medicines and wheat. We had despatched 1.6 tonnes of medical supplies as humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan on December 11 and these were handed over to the representatives of the WHO in Kabul.’

“We had also committed to sending more medical supplies as well as 50,000 MT of wheat,” he added.

“I had mentioned last time that we are in touch with the Pakistan authorities on the modalities of supply of the 50,000 MT of wheat as well as on the other medical supplies as humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

“It is a complex operation and I would just request you to be patient, and as soon as we have an update on it we will come back to you on it,” he added.

On why it was not sent via the Chabahar port, he said: “I will not like to get into the modalities of it; the Chabahar port is functional as the EAM (Foreign Minister S Jaishankar) has mentioned. It has been receiving shipments, it is a useful conduit, but there are other factors that are important in this.

“And it also requires the recipient organization to be able to receive it, take it; and the most common way it has been going is through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and I think that’s why the discussions are on with the Pakistan authorities on this. Let’s be patient,” he added.

Earlier, the MEA spokesperson had informed that on November 24 India received a response from Pakistan on sending the wheat via the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab. This was in response to India’s proposal to Pakistan, sent on October 7, for humanitarian assistance access into Afghanistan.

India has stated that “humanitarian assistance should not be subject to conditionalities” after Pakistan was earlier reported to have insisted that the wheat be loaded onto their trucks at Wagah, which India refused. However, both sides arrived at an agreement to have the wheat loaded onto Afghan trucks under UN mandate. (SAM)