Bonn: Russia has canceled over $11 billion in Afghanistan's sovereign debt over the past decade, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.
"During the past decade Russia has made a significant contribution to the international effort in Afghanistan. We have written off more than $11 billion of Afghanistan's sovereign debt," he said.
Russia also provides humanitarian aid to Afghanistan - more than 40,000 tonnes of wheat flour and other shipments in the past decade, worth a total of around $50 million, he said.
"Right at the moment 3,000 tonnes of wheat flour is being delivered to Afghanistan and funds have been allocated to donate 40 heavy trucks," said Lavrov, who is attending an international conference here on Afghanistan to draw up a roadmap for the war-torn nation's future.
IANS
First Published: Monday, December 05, 2011, 21:31