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[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Wednesday, February 8, 2006

India donates 2,000 tonnes of rice to North Korea Tue Feb 7, 6:13 AM ET

SEOUL (AFP) - India has donated 2,000 tonnes of rice in humanitarian aid to impoverished North Korea, Pyongyang's state media said.

The donation arrived by ship at the North's western port of Nampo with officials from both countries attending the arrival ceremony, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday.

The Indian government has donated humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, to North Korea on nine occasions since 1995, according to Pyongyang.

North Korea has relied on foreign aid to feed its 23 million people for more than a decade.

The North's grain production rose 5.3 percent to 4.54 million tonnes in 2005, still far short of the country's annual demand estimated at six million tonnes, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

The arrival of Indian rice in North Korea coincided with a summit between South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and Indian President Abdul Kalam.

Kalam arrived in Seoul late Monday as India's first head of state to pay an official visit to South Korea since both sides established diplomatic ties in 1973.



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