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Pakistan: Indian Wheat Bound For Afghanistan Infested
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| Pakistan says Indian wheat is infested |
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)- Pakistan said Sunday it would not allow the transit of wheat through its territory from India to Afghanistan because of reports the grain was infested with fungus and diseases, news agencies reported.
According to Pakistani daily newspaper, International News, Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Khair Muhammad Junejo said in a press conference, "We have decided not to allow the transit Indian wheat through Pakistan due to reports that it was infested with germs and diseases which can harm Pakistani wheat."
"We have reports the Indian wheat is infested, it contains disease," Junejo told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We cannot allow it to pass through our land because there are warnings that during transit this could spread and infest our crops also."
India, which has been on the brink of war with Pakistan in recent weeks, was to export 50,000 tones of wheat to war-ravaged Afghanistan under a contract with the World Food Program (WFP).
The consignment to the landlocked Central Asian state was to be transported through Pakistan.
"We have informed the concerned agencies that it is not advisable to export infested Indian wheat to Afghanistan," Junejo said.
According to agriculture ministry sources, Indian wheat was infested with seed-borne fungus like striga and disease like Karnal Bunt, which could harm wheat production during the germination of seeds, the
International News reported.
A spokesman for the WFP said the organization was studying the decision and would not be able to comment before Monday.
The WFP has been purchasing Pakistani wheat for Afghanistan, which has insufficient of its own grain due to the combined effects of drought and war.
Junejo said the WFP had agreed to purchase 300,000 tons of wheat from Pakistan. "We have already moved 80,000 tons and we have enough stocks available to meet the requirement."
Islamabad's decision comes as Indo-Pakistan relations remain near breaking point after the December 13 attack on the Indian parliament, which New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan-based Kashmiri militants.
India has banned over-flights of its territory by Pakistani aircraft, suspended rail and road links and recalled its ambassador from Islamabad.
The South Asian neighbors have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed state of Kashmir, which is divided between the two and claimed by both.
They have massed an estimated 800,000 troops along their border, triggering fears of another war between the nuclear-armed rivals.
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