Kabul, Afghanistan: Uzbekistan became first country to send donation of wheat to drought-hit people of Afghanistan who are fighting their survival under serve drought situation in 16 out of 34 provinces.
A consignment of Uzbek wheat recently reached dry port of Hairatan in Afghanistan and Kabul is expecting more support from Tashkent to fight on-going drought situation.
Over 3,000 tonnes of wheat from Uzbekistan will be distributed in several provinces including Balkh, Faryab, Jawzjan, Sar-e-Pul and Samangan.
Afghanistan-Uzbekistan bilateral relations are growing rapidly under the leadership of President Ashraf Ghani and dependence of Afghanistan on Uzbekistan for supply of food items is also growing as Afghanistan is facing problems for trading through Pakistan. India is also sending wheat through Iran to Afghanistan to cater wheat requirements of Afghanistan. Northern Afghanistan is facing drought situation since 2017 and agriculture and Livestock are two sectors severely hit by constant drought situation. According to an estimate, around 2.3 million people of Afghanistan will suffer from ongoing drought situation.
It is pertinent to mention that 3,000 tonnes wheat reached Afghanistan on June 5 under the direction of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev as Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. The dry port of Hairatan is linked with Uzbekistan through Shurchi railway track.
Uzbekistan recently assured to help Afghanistan in all spheres of life during meetings of President Ashraf Ghani with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and what donation from Tashkent indicates that dependence of Kabul for food requirements over Islamabad will further go down and Uzbekistan would be a new food basket for Afghan people who had traditionally been looking at Pakistan for fulfilling their food requirements.
