Pakistan donates wheat to battle-scarred Kunduz

Afghan city faces severe food shortage after weeks long fighting between govt troops and Taliban

ISLAMABAD: In a move that appears to aim at easing the rising tensions between the two neighbours, Pakistan has donated a planeload of wheat to Afghanistan as a goodwill gesture.

“On special instructions of the prime minister and as a gesture of goodwill and solidarity with brotherly people and the Government of Afghanistan, the Government of Pakistan donated a planeload of wheat to Afghanistan on October 30 to help mitigate the food shortage in Afghanistan,” said the statement issued by the foreign office on Tuesday.

The statement said Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul handed over the donation to the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) Deputy Chairman Aslam Sayas at Kabul Airport in the presence of other Afghan officials.



“The Afghan officials thanked the Government of Pakistan for the generous donation,” said foreign office spokesperson Qazi Khalilluah. Pakistan also sent relief assistance for the victims of avalanches in Afghanistan in February this year.

The wheat will be distributed among the residents of Kunduz, facing a severe food shortage after weeks of fighting between the Afghan forces and the Taliban. The move has come at a time when relations between the neighbours have been marred by growing trust-deficit.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2015.