India sends 5 lakh Covaxin doses to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

Months after the Taliban seized the country in August 2021, India has supplied the first batch of humanitarian assistance consisting of 5 lakh doses of Covaxin to Afghanistan for the first time. External Affairs Ministry officials said that the consignment was handed over to the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul.

India will supply additional 500,000 doses in the coming weeks to the conflict-hit country. Prior to this, India had dispatched humanitarian assistance consisting of medical supplies to Afghanistan on December 11 to contain the humanitarian crisis. The medical supplies were airlifted to the same flight which brought 104 people, including 10 Indians and 94 Afghans belonging to the Sikh and Hindu community, from Kabul to New Delhi on December 10. 

India has said that the Narendra Modi government is committed to providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan comprising of one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, essential life-saving drugs and foodgrains. New Delhi will, in the coming days, supply wheat and the remaining medical assistance. In this regard, the External Affairs Ministry officials are in touch with United Nations agencies and others for finalizing the modalities for transportation.