ISLAMABAD, 03 December 2021, (TON): Pakistan has turned down the Indian proposal seeking transportation of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat as humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan either in Indian or Afghan trucks through the Wagah border.

Official sources told media that India seemed to be deliberately spreading "misinformation" about Pakistani modalities for the shipment of humanitarian assistance via the Wagah border.

As per the modalities, Pakistan proposed that trucks under the banner of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) should transport the wheat and other essentials from India to Afghanistan.

Pakistan already took WFP on board and the UN agency was ready to execute the plan, a senior Foreign Office official said requesting anonymity. The official clarified that the Pakistani modalities should not be seen as conditions.

Rather, he added, they were meant to facilitate India’s humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan.

However, India made a counter proposal and suggested that the wheat should be shipped either in Indian or Pakistani trucks.

The official said "this option is not feasible.”

Since there is no two-way trade between Afghanistan and India through Pakistan, even New Delhi knows its trucks cannot be used for the transportation of wheat.

The official said “if Pakistan allowed Indian trucks and their crew to use its land route, some incident might happen that would trigger a diplomatic crisis. Secondly, Pakistan did consider the option of using Afghan trucks. However, it was told that Afghan trucks used Pakistani lorries for exports to India.”