Fresh aid for Pakistan flood victims
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: It took a week and a pointed "push" by Washington for Pakistan to finally see sense and accept India's flood-relief assistance.
Reeling under its worst-ever humanitarian crisis, Pakistan responded to an Indian offer of assistance with visible reluctance.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated the Indian offer to his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday, even offering to increase assistance. The US state department spokesperson on Thursday actually said Washington "expected" Pakistan to accept the assistance, which swung Islamabad into action.
Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced in New York on Thursday that Pakistan would accept Indian help.
Welcoming it, MEA spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash said, ""We believe India and Pakistan share a common destiny and also that it was in common interest of both our countries to work together for having cordial and cooperative relations."
Qureshi had said last week that Pakistan was hesitating on the Indian aid offer because of the "sensitivity" of the relationship. In the past couple of days, US senator John Kerry, who was visiting Pakistan had also told president Asif Zardari that Pakistan should accept Indian aid.
Addressing a special UN session on Thursday, Qureshi warned that unless Pakistan received adequate international assistance, hard-won gains in the war against terrorists would be undermined.
Part of the reason for Pakistan not accepting Indian aid thus far was opposition among the hardliners both inside Pakistan's military establishment and among the extremists. A significant section of Pakistan's media, too, opposed the aid.
An editorial in Urdu daily Nawa-i-Waqt said, "The Indian offer of aid is like throwing salt on our wounds." It went on to say that India had built dams to secure itself and was releasing water into Pakistan's rivers as part of its design to devastate Pakistan, using water as a weapon. "Sometimes it uses water to flood Pakistan and sometimes it wants to transform Pakistan into a parched desert."
The Indian high commission in Islamabad is now working out what Pakistan will need and mobilise them quickly. Officials said since India enjoyed a proximity advantage it would be able to move the assistance quickly.
On the Indian side too, while there was some hesitation given that in 2005, Pakistan refused a $25 million offer by India, as well as taking the extreme step of ripping off India labels from the assistance package.
"Pakistan is facing a slow-motion tsunami. Its destructive powers will accumulate and grow with time," Ban Ki-Moon warned the UN on Thursday.
According to weather forecasts, more rain is expected in the coming weeks.
The trouble is, though the UN has appealed for $460m in aid donors have so far given about half that figure. But the UN says they need all of it right now. Richard Holbrooke, US' Af-Pak envoy, has called on China to step up aid. So far, China has given $7.4 million, leaving the top slot for donors to the US, Saudi Arabia and the UK.
The wealthy Gulf and OIC countries, too, have been less than generous.
Holbrooke said, "The water has affected everyone, It's an equal opportunity disaster, and military operations have effectively faded away." An embarrassed China stepped up aid pledges on Friday.
Read more: Pak accepts Indian aid after US prod - Pakistan - World - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-finally-accepts-Indian-flood-aid-offer/articleshow/6369785.cms#ixzz0xE0mkxkb
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