New Delhi: A day after sending relief material to earthquake-hit Afghanistan, India on Friday said it stands in solidarity with the Afghan people and remains firmly committed to providing them with required relief assistance. India has already dispatched 27 tons of relief material in two flights for the people of Afghanistan as a "true first responder" to address their difficulties, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
A powerful earthquake hit Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province on Wednesday that killed around 1,000 people and injured over 1,500. "In the wake of the tragic earthquake that struck Afghanistan on June 22, causing massive destruction and loss of precious lives, the government of India, as a true first responder, has dispatched 27 tons of emergency relief assistance in two flights for the people of Afghanistan," the MEA said.
The relief assistance consists of essential items including family ridge tents, sleeping bags, blankets, sleeping mats, etc. The relief consignment will be handed over to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) in Kabul., the MEA said in a statement.
"As always, India stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, with whom we share centuries-old ties, and remains firmly committed to provide immediate relief assistance for the Afghan people," it said. In the aftermath of the earthquake in Afghanistan, India on Wednesday expressed condolences to the victims and their families impacted by the quake.
“India expresses sympathy and condolences to the victims and their families, and all those impacted by the tragic earthquake in Afghanistan. We share the grief of the people of Afghanistan and remain committed to providing assistance and support in this hour of need”, tweets MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
In the last few months, India has supplied several consignments of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to help the Afghan people, reeling under severe economic stress and shortage of food following the Taliban's capture of power.
A powerful earthquake hit a rural, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border early Wednesday. Mawlawi Sharafuddin Muslim, Deputy Minister of State for Disaster Management, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, said that 920 people were killed and 610 were injured in last night’s earthquake that hit several provinces of Afghanistan including Paktika, Khost and Nangarhar.
