Afghan Trucks Going From India Through Pakistan Allowed Free Pass

The federal Minister for Information, Fawad Chaudhry, has announced that Afghan trucks transporting wheat from India to Afghanistan will be allowed to pass toll-free through Pakistan. Dawn reported that the Government of Pakistan has allowed 60 trucks from Afghanistan to collect wheat from the Indian authorities at Attari, India, via Wagah Border. According to official sources, the transportation of wheat from the Indian authorities to Afghanistan will be tax-free, given its humanitarian crisis. An agreement between the Indian government and an Afghan logistics company will allow trucks to enter Pakistan through Torkham where the Pakistani authorities will conduct a rigorous security check of the trucks before allowing them to continue to Wagah to enter India. A customs officer explained that after the collection of wheat from Attari, the trucks will be checked by the Rangers when they return to Pakistan through Wagah. The trucks will then be allowed to travel to Afghanistan via Torkham. During the process, the Afghan trucks will transport 50,000 tonnes of wheat in a period of one month starting on 22 February. The Afghan government has shared the details of the truck drivers and the trucks against which the Pakistani government has issued certificates to the truck drivers, which are to be returned to the authorities at Torkham on the way back to Afghanistan. Furthermore, the convoy will be provided security by the Punjab Police on their way to and from Torkham. Minister Fawad Chaudry said that the Government of Pakistan had allowed the transportation of wheat to Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds, and that it would be illogical for Pakistan to block the aid as it has been asking the whole world to help the Afghan people. He added that the government had initially blocked the transportation due to a disease in Indian wheat.