'Willing to coordinate with other stakeholders for Afghan aid'

United Nations: India at the UN Security Council has said that it is willing to coordinate with other stakeholders to work towards enabling expeditious provision of much-needed assistance to the people of Afghanistan and called on countries in the region to come together, rising above partisan interests.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T S Tirumurti, addressing the UNSC open briefing on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Wednesday, said that India has supported the call of the international community that access to humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan should be direct and without any hindrance.

India is once again ready to deliver urgent humanitarian aid consisting of food grains and medicines to the people of Afghanistan. India remains steadfast in its commitment towards humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan, he said.

We call on the international community and countries in the region to come together, rising above partisan interests.

As the largest regional development partner of Afghanistan, India is willing to coordinate with other stakeholders to work towards enabling expeditious provision of much needed assistance to the people of Afghanistan, Tirumurti said.

He stressed that humanitarian assistance should be based on the principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, and disbursement of the aid should be non-discriminatory and accessible to all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or political belief with the assistance reaching the most vulnerable first including women, children and minorities.

Tirumurti noted with concern that Afghanistan has already seen much bloodshed and violence in recent years and the current humanitarian situation remains dire. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), over half of Afghanistan's population is facing crisis or emergency levels of acute food insecurity, and urgent humanitarian assistance is required to meet the basic food needs of the people.