Kabul receives first wheat shipment from Delhi via Iran

KABUL: The first shipment of 2,200 tons of wheat has arrived in Kabul from India through the Chabahar Port in Iran, said an official, adding another 60,000 tons would be reaching soon.

Nasir Ahmad Durani, the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, attended a ceremony held for receiving the 2,200 tons of wheat from India, said the wheat would be stored in the Central Silo of Kabul city.

He also informed another 60,000 tons of wheat had reached Chabahar port and would be shifted to Kabul soon. He said the remaining 50,000 tons of the total 1.1 million tons of India-granted wheat would reach Afghanistan in near future and would be stored in Helmand, Ghazni, Laghman, Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Nangarhar provinces.

He said the wheat would be utilized in time of need and during occurrence of natural disasters. Alok Ranjan Jha, deputy chief of mission at the Indian Embassy in Kabul, who also participated in the ceremony, expressed happiness over the arrival of the first wheat shipment from his country to Kabul. He said India was in favor of strengthening relations with Afghanistan.

Jha said India besides other assistances and cooperation over the past 16 years with Afghanistan had promised 1.1 million tons of wheat for the people of Afghanistan as grant.