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India Gives Additional $20 Million Aid To Flood-Hit Pakistan

(RTTNews) - India has announced an additional $20 million assistance to Pakistan to help it cope with the worst floods in eight decades which claimed more than 1,600 lives and displaced nearly 20 million people.

This was announced by External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) after Pakistan agreed to accept India's initial aid offer of $5 million that is to be routed through the United Nations.

In a suo motu statement, Krishna said the Cabinet had decided to increase its assistance to Pakistan from $5 million, announced earlier, to $25 million following a more concrete assessment of the damages caused by the natural disaster and the urgent needs of the people of Pakistan.

While $5 million will be given to the World Food Program (WFP) for its relief efforts in Pakistan, the remaining $20 million will be provided to the "Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan" launched by the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian efforts, he said.

Noting that the recent floods have been described as the worst in that part of the region in the last 80 years, Krishna said: "We cannot remain unconcerned with this grave humanitarian crisis of enormous magnitude in our immediate neighborhood."

The enhanced aid follows an earlier telephonic conversation between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani during which the former conveyed New Delhi's readiness to provide more assistance to Islamabad.

According to the latest U.N. assessments, 17.2 million people were affected by the floods which have left 1,600 people dead, more than 1.2 million houses either damaged or destroyed and caused widespread damage to infrastructure.