Alisherzai said the embassy has sent a note to the Saudi government seeking more assistance for Pakistan, where an estimated 4.2 million people have been affected, including numerous towns and villages that have been swallowed by flood waters.
Addressing a press conference here Thursday, Alisherzai, whose own village near the town of Peshawar was affected, sought immediate assistance from the Saudi government as well as from the international community for the victims of the disaster.
“The governments and people of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have stood together in difficult times in the past,” he said. “I am sure that Saudi Arabia will come forward this time as well to help Pakistan in its rescue and rehabilitation efforts in the flood-affected areas.”
The envoy pointed out that more than 1,500 people have died in the disaster so far.
At the very outset, he thanked the Saudi government for providing $100 million worth of relief supplies for the victims, but renewed his call for more support.
“The tragic loss of lives and vast swathes of standing crops besides loss of livestock and infrastructure demand more support from Saudi brethren, international community and the affluent Pakistani diaspora living in this country,” he said, adding that the embassy would seek support from the Saudi government to open accounts in local banks in which donations could be deposited.
Saudi Arabia, he said, sent a second planeload of relief supplies on Thursday to Pakistan.
“The challenge is daunting but the Kingdom, the Pakistani community and our international partners have come forward to do a lot to complement Pakistan’s efforts,” said Alisherzai.
He noted that all officers and staff of the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General in Jeddah have expressed their solidarity with the people of Pakistan by contributing one day’s salary to help the flood victims.
More than half a million people living along the swollen Indus River in the country’s south have been evacuated during the last few days, as floods caused by the worst monsoon rains in decades threatened new destruction. The ambassador said about 91 bridges in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa have been destroyed.
