Officials said 2,000 MT wheat will be sent in 41 Afghani trucks to the crisis-hit country in the first instalment

According to the information, nearly four months after India announced its humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in the form of 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat, the first consignment will be flagged off from the Attari-Wagah border on 22 Feb. Officials said 2,000 MT wheat will be sent in 41 Afghani trucks to the crisis-hit country.

On this purpose a high-level meeting of officials of Land Port Authority of India (LPAI), Border Security Force (BSF), customs, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and Punjab Police was held at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Attari on Monday. The officials took stock of the arrangements which have been put in place to start the transportation.

In October 2021 the Government of India had already announced that it would send 50,000 MT of wheat to Afghanistan.

Attari-Wagah border

In October 2021 the Government of India had already announced that it would send 50,000 MT of wheat to Afghanistan.

Than in November Pakistan’s Cabinet given its approval to India to send the consignment through its territory. But the transportation of wheat became a sticking point.

Also Officials aware of the development said Islamabad wanted the wheat to be transported in Pakistani trucks provided by the National Logistics Cell, a trucking operation affiliated with Pakistani Army. But on the other side, New Delhi wanted to send the wheat it in Indian trucks.

Later on, both the countries decided that the wheat will be loaded in the Afghani trucks at the ICP and than the Afghani trucks will take the wheat through Pakistan’s Torkham border to Jalalabad in Afghanistan. Meanwhile a senior customs official in Amritsar said, “On Monday, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) started loading wheat in Indian trucks. These trucks will be unloaded at the ICP on Tuesday morning. The wheat will be loaded in 41 Afghani trucks thereafter”.

Afghani Trucks

“These trucks will be unloaded at the ICP on Tuesday morning. The wheat will be loaded in 41 Afghani trucks thereafter”.

He also said that the shipment will be flagged off around 4 pm from the Attari-Wagah border by foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla. The Indian government has entered into an agreement with an Afghanistan-based logistics company that would be liable to send empty trucks via Torkham border (Peshawar) to Attari.

The customs officials will carry out a detailed security check of the Afghani trucks when they enter the ICP. A senior official of LPAI, which manages the ICP Attari’s affairs, said the Afghan trucks would start collecting wheat from Tuesday morning and the entire exercise would take around a month.

He further said that the Afghan authorities had shared the details of identities of drivers, the kind of trucks, their manufacturing company, capacity, registration number and other documents with the foreign ministry of India.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla

A senior official of LPAI, which manages the ICP Attari’s affairs, said the Afghan trucks would start collecting wheat from Tuesday morning and the entire exercise would take around a month.