Pakistan has agreed to donate 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat for Afghanistan in the absence of any major assistance from the world community. It has also expedited the process to facilitate trade and movement of people across the border.
With the approval of the donation, Pakistan has matched a similar offer by India given weeks ago which has reached snags due to logistical issues. Pakistan and India locked horns as they struggled to find a common strategy for providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. Pakistan had insisted that the wheat should be transported on their trucks under the UN banner, but India rejected the offer and wanted to use its own or Afghan trucks.
Pakistan offered air and land routes including access to local markets to international donor agencies to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. But the modalities and lack of strategy will eventually hurt ordinary Afghans who are at brink of catastrophe due to harsh cold winter and risk of famine. India also does seems sincere in sending aid to Afghanistan after it was shunned by the Taliban regime.
Pakistan has promised to stand with the Afghan people but its ambitions are marred by scarcity of resources. Prime Minister Imran Khan offered Rs5 billion (approx. $28 million) in aid including a wheat donation and life-saving drugs. However, this may be insufficient for the Afghan families facing an adverse crisis.
International aid organisations have said that US-led sanctions on the Taliban government are affecting the Afghan. The UN and aid agencies are struggling to bypass sanctions and deliver much-need aid to more than half of Afghanistan’s 38 million population. It is essential to ensure that restrictive measures comply with human rights laws and do not impede humanitarian activities.
There have been alarming reports of public hospitals being unable to afford essential medical supplies and pay staff salaries, and families even going to the extent of offering their young daughters in marriage to help themselves survive. The situation is desperate but the humanitarian crisis can still be prevented. Countries must realise that it is difficult or rather impossible to deal with a nation without even involving the government. A lot more needs to be done so that humanitarian assistance can be provided for the aid-dependent country.
