New Delhi: India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti said at the Security Council briefing and consultation on Afghanistan on Thursday (June 23, 2022) that India is committed to providing aid and assistance to the people of Afghanistan in their hour of need, in the form of the devastating earthquake. ready for Killed about 1000 people, destroyed homes and displaced many. “First of all, I express my deepest condolences to the victims and their families and all those affected by the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan. India shares the grief of the people of Afghanistan and stands ready to provide assistance and assistance in this hour .needed,” said TS Tirumurti.
A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck the central region of Afghanistan early Wednesday and affected four districts of Patika province – Gyan, Barmala, Naka and Ziruk – as well as Spera district of Khost province. The United Nations’ humanitarian agency, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the quake was recorded at a depth of 10 kilometres.
Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi has also tweeted that the first consignment of India’s earthquake relief assistance to the people of Afghanistan has reached Kabul and has been handed over by the Indian team there. Further consignments are also as follows, he said.
According to reports, the earthquake has killed at least 1,000 people and displaced many others and destroyed around 2,000 homes. OCHA is coordinating emergency response on behalf of UN agencies and humanitarian partners.
Tirumurti said India supported Security Council resolution 2615 providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, while ensuring that the Security Council continues its surveillance against any possible diversion of funds and misuse of sanctions exemptions .
“We hope that the ‘humanitarian carving’ of this resolution is fully utilized by UN agencies and their aid partners and the aberrations are addressed,” he said.
In response to the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, India has sent several shipments of humanitarian aid including 30,000 metric tons of wheat, 13 tons of medicines, 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and winter clothing.
These humanitarian consignments were handed over to the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital, Kabul and specialized agencies of the United Nations such as the World Health Organization and the World Food Program (WFP).
To ensure fair and equitable distribution of India’s wheat assistance, the Government of India signed an agreement with WFP for the distribution of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat within Afghanistan. He said that the work of sending this wheat to Afghanistan has started.
Medical and food aid
In addition, to monitor India’s utilization of medical and food aid and to further assess the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, an Indian team recently visited Kabul on 2-3 June and participated in the distribution of humanitarian aid. Met representatives of the international organizations involved. ,
In addition, the team also visited locations implementing Indian programs and projects such as Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital, Habibiya High School, Chimtala Sub-Power Station and WFP Wheat Distribution Centre.
“Now we are in the process of sending more medical aid and food grains to Afghanistan. We also presented one million doses of India’s COVAXIN COVID-19 vaccines to Iran to be administered to Afghan refugees in Iran. In addition, we have assisted UNICEF by supplying around 60 million doses of polio vaccine and two tonnes of essential medicines,” he said.
Tirumurti reiterated that humanitarian aid should be based on the principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence. The distribution of humanitarian aid should be non-discriminatory and accessible to all, regardless of ethnicity, religion or political belief. In particular, aid should reach the most vulnerable first, including women, children and minorities.
Noting that peace and security in Afghanistan are important imperatives that require the international community to collectively strive, he said that India will continue to play its role to achieve that objective and that the interests of the Afghan people remain at our heart. Will remain efforts in afghanistan
He underlined that as a close neighbor and longtime partner of Afghanistan, India has a direct stake in ensuring the return of peace and stability to the country.
“Therefore, given our strong historical and civilizational ties with the Afghan people, we are deeply concerned about the recent developments in Afghanistan, particularly the deteriorating humanitarian situation,” he said.
(with agency input)