UK firmly stands with Pakistan in its flood relief efforts: British MP
Badar Bibi, 29, a flood victim who's ailing 6-year-old son died at the relief camp she and her family were taking refuge at, sits in the camp following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Sehwan, Pakistan September 9, 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS
British Deputy Opposition Leader of the Lower House and Deputy Leader of Labour Party Angela Rayner on Thursday said that the United Kingdom firmly stood with the flood-hit Pakistan and supported its relief efforts for the affected people.
“The world needs to find a sustainable way of ensuring that people are not as devastated by the lives lost here in Pakistan and the disruption that has happened to the people here,” she said in an exclusive interview with APP.
Rayner, who along with Member of the House of Lords Sadiq Khan visited the flood-affected areas, said that efforts should be made to prevent such a catastrophe going forward into the future.
Climate change was rapidly affecting the world and Pakistan had become its first victim, and it required extraordinary efforts and collaboration to tackle the issue, she added.
The United Kingdom, she said, would raise the issue and ask for a sustainable solution to combat it in the upcoming COP27 meeting in Egypt next month.
Read more: EU parliament holds debate on humanitarian situation in flood-hit Pakistan
"I hope that the bilateral talks will mean that more support will come to Pakistan and other areas of the globe that have faced the devastation of climate change but in a more sustainable and structured way."
She further stated that the world had to protect the people's future from the climate change effect as it was devastatingly affecting humanity.
Speaking about her visit to the flood-affected areas of Pakistan, Angela Rayner said it was devastating to see how the people have to endure the crisis.
Hundreds of thousands of people had been affected by the flash floods, besides losses of life and property, and standing crops, which was devastating, she added.
She said that the British government had already donated 16.5 million pounds to the flood-affected people of Pakistan.
Moreover, she added, the British Pakistani diaspora had immediately been incredible regarding the relief effort. “Many fundraisers and support have been offered, the Pakistani diaspora in the UK has been incredibly generous, and part of the reason why I'm here is that I wanted to, as a UK politician is that Pakistan hasn't been forgotten.”
To a question, she explained the bilateral trade and said that Pakistan had a very challenging economic time. However, the British industry was supporting Pakistan's Industry. The longer-term goal for both Pakistan and the UK was to build that trading partnership.
She further stated that the UK was also having a very challenging time with its economy. "So it's in our interests to build that trading relationship and support each other's economy."
With regards to the Kashmir issue, Rayner said that the Labour Party had always been committed to supporting the people of Kashmir, and finding a peaceful resolution and supporting the United Nations Security Council resolutions to resolve the dispute.
Moreover, Pakistan and India had to find a peaceful resolution for the Kashmiri people, which was important because every life lost in the conflict was a loss of humanity, she added.