India supplies 5 lakh Covaxin doses to Afghanistan

New Delhi: India on Saturday supplied 5,00,000 doses of the Covaxin vaccine to Afghanistan, the second tranche of humanitarian aid to the war-torn country after its takeover by the Taliban.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the consignment of vaccine doses was handed over to the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul. It said another batch of additional 5,00,000 doses of the vaccine would be supplied to Afghanistan in the coming weeks.

The MEA said India has committed to providing to Afghan people humanitarian assistance consisting of food grains, one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine and essential life-saving drugs.

"In coming weeks, we would be undertaking the supply of wheat and the remaining medical assistance. In this regard, we are in touch with UN agencies and others for finalising the modalities for transportation," a statement from MEA said.

India has already announced that it will send 50,000 tonnes of wheat and medicines to Afghanistan by road transport through Pakistan. India and Pakistan are now finalising the modalities for transportation of the consignments.

Earlier last month, the country delivered 1.6 tons of medical assistance to Afghanistan through the World Health Organisation (WHO).

India has been pitching for providing unimpeded humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country though it has not recognised the new regime in Afghanistan.

The country has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in Kabul besides insisting that Afghan soil must not be used for any terrorist activities against any country. India has been concerned over the recent developments in Afghanistan.

It hosted a regional dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10 that was attended by NSAs of Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The participating countries vowed to work towards ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for global terrorism and called for the formation of an "open and truly inclusive" government in Kabul with representation from all sections of Afghan society.

A declaration released at the end of the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan said Afghan territory should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing any terrorist acts and that officials lent strong support for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan. PTI MPB

India has supplied over 723 lakh doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to 94 countries and two UN entities since the start of the Vaccine Maitri Programme in January last year.

India has supplied Covid-related medical and other assistance to over 150 countries since the beginning of the pandemic.