Pakistan finally accepts Indian aid for flood victims
Residents flee the flooded areas of Basera, near Muzaffargarh, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, on Friday. (EPA)
Published: Aug 20, 2010 23:25 Updated: Aug 20, 2010 23:25
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad has accepted $5 million in aid from India for flood victims, a rare expression of good will between the feuding neighbors at a time when Pakistan is reeling from one of its worst-ever natural disasters.
The floods have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory, straining its civilian government as it also struggles against Al-Qaeda and Taleban violence. Millions of people have been made homeless and the economic cost is expected to run into the billions.
The head of the World Health Organization in Pakistan said Friday that there had been “sporadic cases” of cholera among 20 million people affected by the disaster, many of them living in crowded and unsanitary conditions.
But Guido Sabatinelli told reporters that “I am optimistic that there is no immediate threat of a cholera epidemic.” The United Nations has appealed for $460 million in emergency assistance.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told Indian NDTV television station that the government had accepted the money from India. Such is the difficult relationship the two nations have that it took several days for Islamabad to reach the decision.
“It is highly appreciated in Pakistan and we have recognized it,” he said in New York.
India's Foreign Ministry Friday welcomed the decision to accept the aid, Press Trust of India reported, adding the government was willing to provide more assistance.
India also provided aid to Pakistan after the 2006 Kashmir earthquake that killed more than 70,000 people.
Sabatinelli urged the world to extend generous financial assistance to Pakistan to ensure health facilities for survivors. “We are receiving some good pledges but we cannot buy drugs with pledges, and we need to convert them into checks,” he told reporters.
The UN disaster prevention agency said that communities should have been kept away from flood-exposed river banks in Pakistan. "If people had not settled on the river banks, definitely the disaster would have been less, because that is the main cause of the disaster," said Salvano Briceno, director of the UN's International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

Comments
F. R. KHAN
Aug 21, 2010 19:39
Report abuseHASHMI
Aug 21, 2010 20:44
Report abuseABDUL LATHEEF
Aug 22, 2010 00:12
Report abuseRENE HINOJOSA
Aug 22, 2010 00:26
Report abuseCAUTIOUS
Aug 22, 2010 00:27
Report abuseI am sure that the people who are dying from starvation, disease, and lack of shelter don't care about your political rants but want/need some immediate help - regardless of the religious or political views of the donor.