PM Imran Khan makes yet another offer to India
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ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday expressed his best wishes for the people devastated by floods in the Indian state of Kerala and offered any humanitarian assistance (from Pakistan) that may be needed.
“On behalf of the people of Pakistan, we send our prayers and best wishes to those who have been devastated by the floods in Kerala, India. We stand ready to provide any humanitarian assistance that may be needed,” he said in a tweet posted on his twitter account.
Leaders of flood-stricken Kerala state angrily hit out at India’s national government Thursday for rejecting a $100-million aid offer from the United Arab Emirates as more people entered relief camps to escape the devastation.
More than 1.3 million people have now packed into temporary camps even though the floods, which have left at least 420 dead and missing, are fast receding.
The New Delhi government infuriated the Kerala administration by rejecting the wealthy Gulf state’s offer.
Kerala’s Finance Minister Thomas Isaac accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of adopting a "dog-in-the-manger" policy by refusing the money.
The UAE offer was higher than the $97 million so far given by the central government to handle the floods, which state authorities estimate have caused damage worth more than $3 billion.
They say 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) of roads have been destroyed or damaged, while estimates of the number of houses to be rebuilt vary from 20,000 to 50,000.
Many of the new arrivals in relief camps are people who have returned to their homes to find them uninhabitable. - APP
