VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The humanitarian aid dispatched by the Indonesian government for the Afghan people recently must not be considered an acknowledgment of the Taliban government, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has emphasized.

In a press briefing here on Thursday, director general of information and public diplomacy at the ministry, Teuku Faizasyah, stressed that the shipment of the aid on January 9, 2022, was a form of humanitarian assistance.

The attempt was also aimed at protecting Indonesian citizens working for various United Nations (UN) agencies who have returned to work in Afghanistan, he said.

“We would like to reaffirm that until now, no country has recognized Taliban’s governance in Afghanistan. However, almost all countries have engaged with the group, including the United States and the European Union," the director general noted.

Hence, it is important to distinguish between facilitating humanitarian aid and essential matters and recognition of the Taliban’s occupation of Afghanistan, he stressed.

Currently, the ministry is still monitoring the distribution of the assistance, which is being carried out by the UN’s World Food Program (WFP), he informed.

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi had dispatched two planes carrying the aid from Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang city, Banten province in the wee hours of January 9, 2022.

The aircrafts (GA-7900 and GA-7700) landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan eight hours later.

According to Marsudi, the humanitarian assistance was a response to the alarming humanitarian situation in the South Asian country, where some 23 million people are facing the threat of starvation and over three million children are facing the threat of malnutrition.

The safety and well-being of the Afghan people have always been Indonesia's priority, Marsudi remarked adding, she hoped that the assistance would ease the current burden on the community.  (Antaranews)