Pakistan delivers 280 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan at the Torkham border, officials say.

In April this year, ex-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi announced a gift of 40,000 tonnes of wheat to the drought-stricken country during a visit to Kabul.

National Logistic Cell (NLC) General Manager Mazhar Iqbal said the first consignment of 280 tonnes of the promised food aid was transported to the border in four trucks.

Ghulam Farooq, an official at the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, appreciated the goodwill gesture of the Pakistan government.

The total price of the wheat in open market is estimated at Rs4 billion, according to Iqbal, who said that the remaining wheat would be delivered to Afghanistan over the next few months.

Approval of the gift came from the Prime Minister Office on April 23, with instructions for speedy transportation. Due to the general elections in Pakistan, the process was delayed.

The wheat delivery coincided with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s visit to Kabul, where he met President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah and other Afghan officials.

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