KABUL – The first consignment of more than 2,400 tons of wheat from Indiaarrived in Kabul on Saturday. It is part of at least 30,000 tons of wheatso far shipped to Afghanistan through Chabahar Port.
Minister of Agriculture Naseer Ahmad Durrani and Charge d’Affairs of Indiain Afghanistan Alok Ranjan Jha attended an event in Kabul to welcome thearrival of the shipment.
The agriculture minister said the 2,440 tons of wheat will be stored ingovernment storages in Ghazni, Nangarhar, Herat, Laghman, Kandahar, Helmandand Kabul provinces.
He said Afghanistan has purchased 100,000 tons of wheat from Uzbekistanwhich have been stored in government storages in north and northeasternprovinces including Balkh, Baghlan, Kunduz, Badakhshan and Takhar.
“We want to store 3,000 tons of wheat in Helmand, 2,000 tons in Ghazni,18,000 tons in Herat, 15,000 tons in Kandahar, 63,000 tons in Kabul, 1,000tons in Laghman and 8,000 tons in Nangarhar,” he said.
At the same event, Charge d’Affairs of India in Afghanistan, Alok RanjanJaha, said the new route, Chabahar Port, will provide the opportunity for agreater trade in the region.
“Afghanistan is a landlocked country. It is its international right to haveaccess for trade which is being denied by a particular country in theregion and it is very important for India, Afghanistan and the regionbeyond to make sure that this new trade route flourishes, develops andgives all our countries in the region more opportunities for greatertrade,” he said.
The shipment is part 1.1 million of wheat pledged by India to Afghanistanin 2002. More than 700,000 tons of wheat has already been supplied toAfghanistan which is part of the 110,000 tons that will arrive to thecountry in one year.