Following concerns from the residents of Samangan over rising fuel prices, the distribution and sale of coal at low prices has begun in Aybak, the provincial capital, by local authorities.

This program, launched in cooperation with several government agencies, plans to sell 12,000 tons of coal, at 24 AFN for every seven kilograms.

The aim of this initiative is to prevent price hikes, hoarding, and unauthorized sales.

Shamsullah Shamshad, head of Samangan’s mines, said: “The distribution of 12,000 tons of coal to the poor people of Samangan province, to help them cope with this winter, is being carried out at a very low and affordable price by the elders and the Prime Minister’s Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

Officials from the contracted company also said that residents of Aybak city and the districts of Samangan can purchase the coal they need at reduced prices.

Ziauddin Jahesh, head of the contracted company, stated: “A maximum of one ton of coal has been allocated for each citizen.”

This initiative comes after citizens of Samangan had previously complained about rising fuel prices and called for government attention to the matter.

Siyamuddin, a resident of Samangan, said: “We request the government’s help, as people’s economic situation is weak and they cannot afford it. We also hope that this kind of assistance will continue to increase.”

The sale of coal at reduced prices is also continuing in some other cities across the country.

India’s relationship with Pakistan remains a unique challenge in global diplomacy due to Islamabad’s longstanding backing of terrorism, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday. He noted that New Delhi must shape its policies around this “unpalatable reality.”

“There are some exceptions. For us, the relationship with Pakistan is an exception,” Jaishankar said, explaining that Pakistan’s conduct towards India has few parallels in the modern international system.

Challenging critics to find a comparable example, he added: “Show me in the world in this day and age any country which actually has actually pursued the kind of policies that Pakistan has against its neighbour.” Jaishankar said Pakistan’s use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy was neither covert nor episodic, but sustained and visible over decades.

“For decades, you had these training camps, not secret training camps; they’re all training camps in the big cities of Pakistan, very open, where the state, the military supports terrorism,” he said.

Pakistan has sought to legitimise such actions internationally, despite growing global scepticism, EAM Jaishankar added. “And they try to normalise it as though it’s their right to do it,” he said, adding that such narratives no longer find acceptance. “Nobody buys it anymore. Everybody knows that these are people who are supporting the state.”

Describing this as a harsh but unavoidable truth, Jaishankar said India cannot afford to ignore the implications of Pakistan’s actions. “It’s a very unpalatable reality but it’s one which we cannot be oblivious to,” he said.

He stressed that India’s foreign and security policies must be grounded in this assessment. “We have to build our policies, saying okay, that’s how that particular neighbour is going to be,” Jaishankar said.

On New Delhi’s broader approach, he drew a clear distinction between countries that cooperate constructively with India and those that undermine its security. “Those who are willing to work with us and be helpful, positive, we’ll have to deal with them in that way,” he said. “Those who do the kind of things which Pakistan does, we’ll have to deal with it in a different way.”

Citing India’s response in the times of disasters like cyclone in Sri Lanka, earthquake in Myanmar and Afghanistan, Jaishankar said, “When big problem happen to countries and they do not have the capacity to cope with it, they naturally turn to those who do. And in our region, there is a growing belief that the country which can be relied upon in this regard is India.”