Qureshi appeals for immediate aid

“We do need international assistance, we need international assistance now,” FM Qureshi pleaded.

UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday warned that Pakistan was struggling to deal with an unprecedented disaster at a time when it faces a crucial internal battle against militants, who could seek to exploit the crisis.

“We do need international assistance, we need international assistance now,” he pleaded, hours before he was due to address the UN General Assembly.

Speaking at the Asia Society in New York, Qureshi said he would tell the assembly session “what a serious challenge Pakistan is facing at a time when the government of Pakistan has succeeded in building a consensus against extremism and terrorism.”

He pledged that his government would put in place mechanisms “that are transparent and accountable” to handle the international aid now pouring into the country.

Qureshi brought a video showing the unprecedented scale of the disaster, with one fifth of Pakistan still under water and 20 million people affected following three weeks of devastating floods that have left nearly 1,500 dead.

The General Assembly was meanwhile to meet here later Thursday in a bid to hasten the delivery of aid after a UN appeal for $460 million made last week received only a little over half of the target. At least 36 speakers, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Qureshi and their counterparts from Belgium, Canada and Denmark, were to take the floor. Clinton was expected to use the UN meeting to announce extra American aid - currently 90 million dollars - after the floods wiped out entire villages, farmland and infrastructure. The General Assembly was expected to adopt a resolution urging the international community to help Pakistan recover in the medium and long-term, amid signs foreign donors are rallying in support of the nation.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2010.