World

India offers $20m in new flood aid to Pakistan

The additional aid will boost efforts to build goodwill between the estranged neighbours.

Afp August 31, 2010

NEW DEHLI: India on Tuesday offered another 20 million dollars in flood aid to Pakistan, the country's foreign minister said, boosting efforts to build goodwill between the estranged neighbours.

SM Krishna told the parliament that a fresh instalment of 20 million dollars would boost India's total aid contributions for Pakistan to 25 million dollars.

"As a more concrete assessment of the damage inflicted by this natural disaster and the urgent needs of the people of Pakistan emerges, government has decided to increase its assistance to Pakistan from five million dollars," he said.

Earlier this month, Islamabad described the initial offer as a "very welcome initiative" by India as the two countries look to get a stalled peace process back on track.

COMMENTS (25)

mahnoor | 14 years ago | Reply we need aid for the poor helpless peopple who r dying because of starvation.be it india or any other country all outstanding issues should be forgotten and aefforts should be diverted towards helping the ones whose lives have been torn to pieces by this great catastrophe.its not a pakistani problem,its a human trajedy of unimaginable proportions. we should move positively and solve our differences with our indian brothers.after all we have co existed for centuries.we can coexist again.i believe we can.i want to see pakistn and india to come closer. and prosper together.zero sum mentality has done pakistan or india no goood.

ayesha siddiqui | 14 years ago | Reply if our politician take all their money back from their banks then we will not need any aid.our politicians are still not thinking about the bad impact of Pakistan upon the world we always keep one thing in our mind that India is our enemy since Pakistan was established. India never do anything without any purpose.

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vikas ranjan | 14 years ago | Reply @Ahmed Hussain Brother you have put the issue in perspective brilliantly. Let the two governments have their differences, let us continue to work at resolving them. And let us not lose our humanity and let us help each other whenever and in whatever way we can.

I.M | 14 years ago | Reply If pakistanies want to know what indians are thinking about them then click below http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-should-not-accept-Indian-aid-even-through-UN-Pak-media/articleshow/6468686.cms

Eeman | 14 years ago | Reply I'm against accepting this aid. PERIOD.

IMRAN | 14 years ago | Reply Its a shame that corrupt practises of our so called leaders has brought this country to stand with an ever bigger begging bowl in the comity of nations where our adverseries even cynically offers aid. A begger is always a "Baigharat" as he sells off his pride. The present leadership has potrayed the whole pakistani nation as nation of prideless minions who would ever look at the pockets of others for their needs. Pakistan is a great country. Its people are dynamic and hardworking. We can spring back and move forward provided we get a Leadership which is Honest & Dedicated. Lets not look at this adversity as the end of life as Great Nations face challenges but at their own. Pray Almighty Allah to bless us with a Leadership which has a pride,honesty and dignity to serve this nation of Quaid e Azam who was ever a man of great dignity,pride and honesty.

randomrandom | 14 years ago | Reply Take the money and help the needy. Accept the facts and live with them.

Ahmed Hussain | 14 years ago | Reply We are two brothers in our family. About 10 years back, we had a major difference in opinion due to which we have had a very strained relationship involving bitter law suits, verbal mudslinging, boycotting family occasions and ceremonies. Couple of years back, misfortune struck me where when I was going through some very difficult times financially. My son(my only child) met with a near fatal accident which led to a long period of hospitalization. It is hard to explain the misery my family and I bore during those days and leading us to the brink of our sanity. Our financial situation worsened and the our struggle to keep the boy alive seemed hopeless under those circumstances. My brother who had not spoken to me for all these years called me one afternoon. I was not in a mood to take his call since I was sure I couldn't take any more stress at that moment. He told me he had not called to discuss our court cases or complain. He asked me how i and my family were doing. Then he said he would like to help. I was surprised not because of the offer to help but I knew that he was not doing that well himself due to the strain the court cases had on his financial situation. He just told me while we had our differences,in times of such difficulty, our father would have wanted us to share whatever little we could to offer and share whatever pain the other had. By Allah's grace my family and I survived those times. Today, while the court cases still continue, the bitterness that existed is surely gone. We might not be the best of brothers in the world, but we are family...and we know we always will be. I do not know much about the history of the Pakistan-India conflict but many times I feel things aren't as bad as they are made out to be.

Farhad | 14 years ago | Reply There is no trick. If you think India hasn't already proven its economic, political, cultural and military dominance over Pakistan, you are living a lie. They are not attaching strings, I see no tricks to this. Have we become so incredibly jaded that we are unable to even recognize someone genuinely trying to help Pakistan? I'm beginning to get the feeling that people in Pakistan are trapped in a life of conspiracy theories and will never emerge from the paranoia that ensues from the same.

faraz | 14 years ago | Reply All the bollywood watching hypocritic middle class will oppose the aid, the poor need it. Why dont we feel ashamed when 15 million poor Pakistanis beg for food? We are ranked amongst failed states alongwith Sudan and Somalia but we still live in a delusion of granduer.

a friend | 14 years ago | Reply begger are trying to be choosers...its not even funny

Abhi | 14 years ago | Reply ---To all My Dear Friends in Pakistan --- Don't politicize this issue. This is all about saving some life in Pakistan providing shelter/food/medicine to those who need them most. Why Pakistan can't take help form India even though Pakistan is begging for aid from rest of the world and even using flood as a tool to write off loans given by IMF and other foreign institutions. every one knows that Pakistani economy is running on borrowed money from foreign institutions. I suggest Pakistani politicians have to leave this mentality that if Pakistan have to win India have to loose.

Anoop | 14 years ago | Reply @ZainB, "The UN is accepting pledges and aid from various nations – India can do the same and route any aid it wishes to provide through the UN instead of making a big drama about it every single time." --> It turns out in Pakistan's case beggars ARE choosers. Instead of criticizing Pak govt for asking India to route it through UN you are blaming India for kindhearted enough to give aid? I support India giving aid to Pakistan. But, why through UN? Anyway, since people's lives are stake India should be the bigger man here and do as necessary. Only if Pak govt had as much care for its people as India has. And, no one is talking about the fact that aid from India is more than double the amount of aid given by China!!!! China has pledged $10 million. Considering its the second largest economy in the world and is considered "brothers" by Pakistanis this amount is paltry. In situations like this you can find out who the good guys are. India has given $1 Billion to Bangladesh for preferring friendship with India. Only if Pakistan had done the same it could have got a lot more money.

rocket | 14 years ago | Reply is any bigmouth ,expressing his angst at accepting indian aid here happens to be even remotely affected by deadly floods ?

edgarm | 14 years ago | Reply This is too little.India should give more not only money but also help Pakistan rebuild their agriculture and livestock.

Praveen Kumar | 14 years ago | Reply I wished never to see the day that we accept aid from India … shameful. You can still fulfill your wish, better late than never. Reject their aid, and ask them to send it through UN, etc. Thats not exactly the rejection. All our wishes to see healthy India. evidence is anything but!

kamal | 14 years ago | Reply I would like to Eeman comments.Its true that India is also suffering from food shortage and poverty,but if inspite of that India govt is trying to help pakistan it should be treated in good spirit.

ZainB | 14 years ago | Reply The UN is accepting pledges and aid from various nations - India can do the same and route any aid it wishes to provide through the UN instead of making a big drama about it every single time. @sanjithmenon: Why would you 'expect something in return'? Did Pakistan expect 'something in return' when it provided aid to India, or to various other nations?

Athar | 14 years ago | Reply Hay they are the exact same people who gave money to "news of the world" reporter to cook story against Pakistan

Tani | 14 years ago | Reply Second Ashutosh's comments here. Accept it and rebuild Pakistan. There are people who lost their homes twice in the tribal areas already in this year. First to the terrorist fight and now to the floods. Every penny of aid coming into this contry should be accounted for. WAKE UP PEOPLE! Otherwise it would be too late.

Facebookia | 14 years ago | Reply ohh please cut the crap out already. Accept it or deny it!!! Why does everything has to be so dramatic b/w the two countries. I 2nd Ashutosh's comment..

Eeman | 14 years ago | Reply I'm smelling something. Would be good to reroute this aid to those who are living right under the nose of your governance and are forced to eat mud. "The so-called Food Security Bill, the draft of which the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had promised to place before the public very soon in the course of his Budget speech in end February, is yet to see the light of the day." The total number of undernourished persons has increased form 210 million in 1990-92 to 252 million in 2004-06. India has about half the population of world’s undernourished children. What is worse, there has been a general decline in calorie consumption in recent decades. The percentage of children below five years of age who are underweight is now 42.5 per cent. The percentage of children below three years who are undernourished is 40 per cent. http://revolutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/india-poverty-hunger-and-the-food-security-bill-hoax/ All our wishes to see healthy India.

Ashutosh | 14 years ago | Reply India should not get involved in a politics as the floods reminds on kids crying after their relief material snatched and young helpless mothers holding their young onces to their malnutrition body. Without waiting for a Pakistani nod, I hope India straightway transfer this funds to UN to ensure that the relief reaches the needy ASAP.

sanjithmenon | 14 years ago | Reply Good. These guys need help badly. But do not expect anything back.

Adeel Ahmed | 14 years ago | Reply I wished never to see the day that we accept aid from India from all countries... shameful. This is a reflection of our corrupt and insincere leaders. Reject their aid, and ask them to send it through UN, etc.

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