United Nations World Food Program (WFP) executive director David Beasley has acknowledged Pakistan’s support for repairing damaged aircraft returning from Kabul and setting up a “humanitarian air bridge” for the war-torn country.
The WFP chief praised him in a video from the Islamabad airport, which he posted on his official Twitter account on Thursday.
“Our damaged aircraft from Kabul has been repaired, and the WFP is now ready to establish a humanitarian air bridge between Islamabad-Kabul and other destinations in Afghanistan,” Beasley wrote.
“This will enable us to meet the needs of the Afghan people at large,” he said.
In the video, Beasley said the Pakistan government “really helped” the WFP in repairing and repairing the damaged aircraft in Kabul so that they could be brought back into service.
Pointing to a passenger plane, he said: “We are going to do a test flight from Islamabad to Kabul which will be an air bridge, which will hopefully go well.”
He said the WFP is helping to evacuate passengers, UN personnel and other humanitarian workers from Afghanistan.
“With all the devastation inside Afghanistan, we want to do what we can to get life back to normal and give hope to the desperate right now,” he said.
WFP chief calls on PM
The WFP executive director also met with Prime Minister Imran Khan later in the day and expressed his gratitude for Pakistan’s role in facilitating the work of the UN agency in providing food aid to people in Afghanistan.
Beasley also discussed ways to facilitate “the continued provision of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people” with the prime minister, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Prime Minister commended the agency’s role as a leading international humanitarian organization to provide food assistance in emergencies and to work with countries around the world to improve nutrition and build resilience.
He underlined that Pakistan has been a beneficiary of various WFP projects being implemented in the country and values its partnership with the organisation.
Discussing the situation in Afghanistan, the Prime Minister reiterated that the formation of an inclusive government and the positive participation of the international community is the way to avert a humanitarian crisis and secure peace and stability in the country.
.