ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN —Afghan officials told Reuters on Nov. 16 that Pakistan has agreed to allow India to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat through its territory to Afghanistan, which is in the midst of a severe hunger crisis. 

The agreement between the longtime adversaries came a month after India had sought approval from Pakistan to make the shipment, it’s first since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan after the United States withdrew its military forces at the end of August.

“The issue has been resolved, and India can now send the wheat to Afghanistan via the Wagah border in Pakistan,” Shah Zaheer, spokesman of the Afghanistan Ministry of Commerce and Industries, told Reuters.

With the economy collapsing under Taliban rule, the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that more than half of the country’s 40 million people will likely face acute food shortages and nearly 10 million are already on the brink of starvation.

Pakistan is also providing food aid to Afghanistan, as the WFP reportedly will begin transporting wheat flour from Pakistan to Afghanistan in the coming days. An estimated 10,000 tonnes of flour is scheduled to be delivered.