F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have expressed their complete solidarity with the government and people of Pakistan over the human and financial losses in the recent floods that devastated huge parts of Pakistan. Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong conveyed these special messages to President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif from the Chinese leadership. The Chinese leadership expressed their grief over the losses.
China had announced an assistance grant of RMB100 million (Yuan), besides the dispatch of 25,000 tents and other assistance items. The first batch of the relief aid containing 300 tents would be arriving Karachi today. The Chinese ambassador would hand over these articles to the Pakistani authorities, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release on Tuesday. President Xi, in a message to President Dr Arif Alvi, observed that severe floods had occurred recently in Pakistan, causing heavy casualties and serious property losses.
President Xi, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, and in his own name, expressed deep condolences over the victims and sincere sympathy to the bereaved families, the injured and the people in the affected areas. The Chinese envoy had apprised the Government of Pakistan of the decision of the Chinese leadership about the relief support.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif expressed gratitude to the Chinese leadership and said that the Chinese leadership and the people of China had always supported the people of Pakistan with their generosity. He also conveyed his good wishes to the Chinese leadership. The prime minister on his Twitter handle, thanked President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang for the financial assistance to flood-affected people of Pakistan. “This flood is like no other in terms of its intensity & spread. China has been there for us at the most difficult times & we greatly value its support,” the prime minister posted a tweet.
PM appreciates EU’s support of 2.15m Euros for flood affectees: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday received a telephone call from Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The President of European Council offered his condolences on the loss of precious lives and material damage as a result of devastating floods in Pakistan.
The prime minister thanked the EU President for his expression of solidarity and appreciated the EU’s support of 2.15 million Euros for flood affectees in Pakistan. Briefing the EU President on the widespread destruction caused across Pakistan due to unprecedented rainfall, the prime minister said that the floods had caused extensive loss of human lives, livelihoods, livestock, crops, property and infrastructure.
He added that, most regrettably, the situation was likely to deteriorate further as rains were expected to continue over areas already submerged by more than two months of flooding. The prime minister also apprised the EU President of the efforts undertaken by the government, which include large scale humanitarian response for people in the affected areas, by immediate dispatch and distribution of food, medicine and relief material to those affected by floods.
The government has also established a Relief Fund for people all over the country and made arrangements for Overseas Pakistanis to donate for the flood relief efforts, he added. The prime minister shared that a “UN Flash Appeal” was launched on August 30 2022 and expressed the hope that the international community would contribute towards meeting the funding requirements endorsed by the UN.
