Showing posts with label accepts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accepts. Show all posts

Saturday, 21 August 2010

Pakistan accepts $5m flood aid from India

We are enjoy Pakistan accepts $5m flood aid from India

Tens of thousands have been made homeless by the floods in Sindh province
Pakistan has accepted $5m (£3.2m) in aid from its rival and neighbour India, as donors pledged more money for the flood-hit country.
Abdullah Haroon, Pakistan's UN Ambassador, welcomed the offer saying the disaster transcended any differences the two countries had.

Meanwhile, officials say the province of Sindh is now the worst hit, with more than two million people affected.

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Pakistan's Monsoon Floods

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In pictures: Pakistanis await aid
New warnings are being issued and villages evacuated, they said.

Mr Haroon welcomed the latest offers of help, which followed a two-day special meeting of the UN Security Council in New York to discuss the crisis.

UN figures showed on Friday that $490.7m had been raised for the relief effort, with another $325m pledged. The total tops the $460m sought in the UN emergency appeal.

Mr Haroon described the new donations as "indeed heartening" and "a good beginning", but added that Pakistan will need support for years to come.

India's UN Ambassador, Hardeep Singh Puri, said the donation of $5m in relief supplies was an initial offer and his country was ready to do more if needed.

"We are willing to do all that is in our power to assist Pakistan in facing the consequences of floods," he said.

"We extend our wholehearted support to the government of Pakistan in its efforts for relief and rehabilitation of the... population."

The offer came after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday.

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We had no way to save our goats and buffaloes, stranded in the water and crying”

Qasim Bhayyo
Refugee from Sindh province
Pakistan and India have slowly been improving ties since the Mumbai militant attacks of 2008 put relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals at a new low.

Homes lost
The floods began last month in Pakistan's north-west after heavy monsoon rains and have since swept south, swamping thousands of towns and villages in Punjab and Sindh provinces.

About one-fifth of Pakistan's territory is underwater and an estimated 20 million people are affected.

Officials estimate that about 1,600 people have been killed.

In the southern province of Sindh, hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless as the Indus river overflowed, swamping homes and valuable farmland.

"Everything has been wasted. Nothing is left," said Qasim Bhayyo, 45, a refugee from Qayyas Bhayyo village in Sindh.

"I saw my house of wood and mud washed away. I saw grain and flour - we stockpiled food for months. It was all destroyed. We had no way to save our goats and buffaloes stranded in the water and crying."

As aid agencies stepped up the relief effort, the UN said on Friday that more helicopters were urgently needed to reach communities cut off by the water.

Experts warn of a second wave of deaths from water-borne diseases such as cholera unless flood victims have access to supplies of fresh drinking water.

If you would like to make a donation to help people affected by the floods in Pakistan, you can do so through the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee at www.dec.org.uk or by telephone on 0370 60 60 900

Coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11046139

Friday, 20 August 2010

Pakistan finally accepts Indian flood aid offer


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WASHINGTON: Pakistan has finally accepted the USD five million aid offered by India for flood relief victims and said such a gesture was appreciated.

"I can share with you that the Government of Pakistan has agreed to accept the Indian offer (of USD 5 million aid)," Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on the sidelines of the special session of the General Assembly on Pakistan at the United Nations headquarters.

The US had yesterday asked Pakistan to accept USD five million in flood aid from India as politics should have no role in disaster response.

The foreign minister asserted that Pakistan was not playing any politics on aid offer from India.

"We are not playing politics. Let me acknowledge the fact that the minister for external affairs, Mr (S M) Krishna, called me in Islamabad and he expressed sympathy, he condoled with me on the loss of life, and offered assistance to Pakistan," he said in an interview.

Qureshi was at the United Nations headquarters in New York to attend the special session of the General Assembly on Pakistan.

Qureshi thanked Krishna, Indian Government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for this very "positive" gesture.

"It's highly appreciated by Pakistan and we have recognised it. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Prime Minister Gillani and they have also exchanged views on the evolving flood situation in Pakistan.

"He has reiterated the offer made by the foreign minister, and I can share with you that the government of Pakistan has agreed to accept the Indian offer," Qureshi said.

"I think this initiative of India is a very welcome initiative and I'm looking forward to further engagements with my counterpart to improve the environment, to build confidence and to bridge the trust deficit between the two countries," the Pakistan foreign minister said.

When asked about reports that Islamic extremist groups might take advantage of this opportunity to win over hearts and minds, Qureshi asserted this will not happen.

"I think what we saw today and the UN will not permit them to take advantage of the situation. I think the international community is now forthcoming and the international community is responding and they are responding quickly, and we will not allow them to exploit that situation,"

Read more: Pakistan finally accepts Indian flood aid offer - Pakistan - World - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-finally-accepts-Indian-flood-aid-offer/articleshow/6369785.cms#ixzz0x8sxNRYs
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