Why in news? India will send its consignment of wheat as aid to Afghanistan under the Taliban regime via Chabahar.

Highlights:

• The decision, announced at the first meeting of the India-Central Asia Joint Working Group (JWG) on Afghanistan after the agreement with Pakistan for sending the wheat over the land route expired.
• The talks on extending the time have failed to proceed.
• India has used the Chabahar route in the past, prior to 2021, to send shipments of wheat to Afghanistan
• To address the current humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, Indian side announced its partnership with UNWFP (UN World Food Programme) for the delivery of 20,000 tonnes of wheat for Afghan people through the Chabahar Port.
• At the JWG, India also agreed to offer “customised capacity building courses” for UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) officials and cooperate on initiatives to counter drug trafficking and rehabilitation efforts for Afghan drug users, especially women.

About Chabahar Port

• It is a seaport in Chabahar located in south-eastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman.
• It serves as Iran’s only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti.
• The port is partly intended to provide an alternative for trade between India and Afghanistan as it is closer to the border of Afghanistan than Pakistan’s Karachi port.
• It is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean.
• Being close to Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and others, it has been termed the “Golden Gate” to these landlocked countries.