Pakistan accepts India’s offer, appeals for more aid

NEW DELHI: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi appealed to the international community to provide more and immediate aid to cope with the humanitarian crisis due to the floods.

Moreover, Pakistan has decided to accept flood aid from its neighbour India, saying the offer was a “very welcome initiative” as both countries look to improve their tense relations.

Foreign Minister Qureshi told India's NDTV television in an interview broadcast Friday that Islamabad would take India's offer of five million dollars which was made last Friday.

“I can share with you that the government of Pakistan has agreed to accept the Indian offer,” Qureshi said from New York, where he addressed a special session of the UN General Assembly called to boost aid for flood victims.

“I think this initiative of India is a very welcome initiative.”

India and Pakistan have made major efforts in recent months to build confidence in their relations, which were badly strained by the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks, which Indian blamed on militants from Pakistan.

The United States urged Pakistan earlier this week to accept the Indian offer and not let rivalry stand in the way of helping its citizens in flood-ravaged regions.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rang his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday “to express his sense of sorrow and to condole the deaths resulting from the huge floods,” Singh's office said.

The catastrophic floods in Pakistan have claimed nearly 1,500 lives and affected 20 million people. – AFP