India sends fresh aid to Afghanistan via Chabahar

NEW DELHI: India has announced that a fresh consignment of humanitarian aid for Afghanistan, following last month's devastating earthquake, had reached Kabul through the Chabahar Port ahead of the September 29 deadline for revocation of US visa waiver for the port.

The external affairs ministry said on Thursday that the latest shipment, consisting of three container loads of relief materials, had arrived in the Afghan capital via the port and was handed over to the authorities.

The consignment includes a wide range of essential items such as food supplies, water purifiers, protein powder, tin sheets, sleeping bags, hygiene kits, water storage tanks, generator sets, family tents, blankets, essential medicines and other medical goods.


"In continuation of India's humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in the wake of recent earthquake, 3 container loads of supplies of relief materials arrived in Kabul via Chabahar today and were handed over to Afghan authorities," the ministry said in a post on social media platform X.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had condoled the loss of lives in Afghanistan and said that India would provide "all possible humanitarian aid" to deal with the calamity. India had earlier stated that it was studying the US decision on revoking the sanctions waiver granted in 2018 for operations at Iran's Chabahar Port. The port is being managed by India following a pact with Iran last year.

The revocation of the sanctions waiver is part of the US' "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. The waiver, issued under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, had allowed India and other countries to continue work at the port without facing US penalties. Chabahar Port is of strategic importance for India as it provides a trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.