India ready to send humanitarian aid for floods, Pak yet to accept: Sources

Foreign ministry officials of both countries were initially in touch for distribution of aid but Indian officials now say they aren't hearing from Islamabad

India is fully prepared to send bilateral relief and aid material to flood-ravaged Pakistan as soon as it receives the green signal from Islamabad, multiple officials and sources involved in the distribution said on Sunday. However, they added that talks on the subject between both nations have petered out after India signalled its willingness to help earlier last week.

Flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall, which is thrice the national 30-year average, have caused widespread destruction in Pakistan since mid-June. Over 1,200 people have died and 33 million or 15 per cent of the country's population have been impacted, the United Nations said on Saturday.

While foreign ministry officials of both nations were initially in touch, Pakistan has maintained zero communication on the subject since Wednesday when its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country will overcome the adverse effects of the natural calamity with characteristic resilience, Ministry of External Affairs officials said.

Sharif was replying to a tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which voiced his concern over the human and material losses caused by the floods. Since then, he has reportedly rebuffed suggestions by Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to import foodgrains from India and linked resumption of bilateral ties to the Kashmir issue.

Further complicating matters, Sharif has also said normal trade ties with India can't open soon. While trade had remained sporadic since the Uri attack in 2016, Pakistan restricted all trade with India in the wake of the abrogation of Section 370 and the change in the status status of Jammu and Kashmir.

For any import to legally take place, existing curbs have to be dropped. Meanwhile, Pakistan has begun importing onions and tomatoes from Iran and Afghanistan, two other nations with which its relations remain tense.

"The humanitarian crisis is alarming and India has responded in accordance with our long-held practice of helping nations in time of natural calamities. But as often happens, the issue has become hostage to Islamabad's political calculations. As of now, we don't see much movement on the matter as it stands," a senior MEA official said.

The issue has also become the latest bone of contention between Sharif and the many constituent parties of the coalition government he now heads, the MEA official added. "Both Punjab and Sindh have been badly hit. While Sharif's PML(N), which dominates Punjab has remained quiet, his allies in the Sindh-based PPP has favoured receiving all aid, no matter the source," the official stressed. Sindh has been hardest hit by the rising waters.

Current aid situation

Sources said relief from India had been earmarked and readied for sending before the latest impasse. Any future relief will likely consist of ready-to-eat food, tents, medical supplies, and rubber boots, along the lines of what India provided Afghanistan after the landlocked nation’s civilian government fell in August 2021, sources working for aid agencies said. It would most probably be delivered through a military aircraft, they added.

“First, India could provide humanitarian relief and thereafter based on the assessment of crop damage etc further relief could be considered,” a senior functionary at one of the aid agencies said.

India has historically supplied relief to countries, and has often also offered to help Pakistan. During Manmohan Singh's tenure, it had sent aid to the country in 2010 after similar floods. India had also accepted aid after the 2001 Gujarat earthquake during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure.

Meanwhile, traditional allies of Pakistan such as Turkey and UAE have begun to dispatch emergency aid while other major nations such as the UK, France and United States have announced financial and material help.

On August 30, the United Nations launched a Flash Appeal for Pakistan, seeking $160 million to support Government relief efforts. The country's efforts have also been bolstered by the International Monetary Fund announcing a $1.1 billion bailout tranche last week, as part of ongoing negotiations since the country was already facing an economic crisis.

Massive losses reported

Pakistan has declared a national emergency with 72 of its 160 districts being declared "calamity hit"—mostly in Balochistan and Sindh, the two worst-affected provinces, as well as in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

The floods have been linked to climate change, with the Himalayan glaciers that feed the Indus river suddenly bursting due to ice melt, and record summer temperatures pushing up the chances of rain. Pakistani media has reported the cost of reconstructing agriculture and road infrastructure to be upwards of $10 billion, an amount the cash strapped country can't afford.

According to global aid agencies, up to 6.4 million people need immediate support, which is expected to rise as rains continue to fall. Millions remain trapped under makeshift tents along the elevated highways with miles of water separating them on both sides.

Global agencies coordinating aid

1. The World Food Programme (WFP) has reached 168,000 flood-affected people in Balochistan, sources said.
2. Help for up to 117,000 additional people in Sindh to begin in the coming days.
3. WFP looking to scale up operations to reach nearly 1 million people with food and medicines shortly.
4. International aid agencies have called for opening border with India to allow emergency supplies in.
5. Indian subsidiaries of global agencies ready to send aid to their sister concerns in Pakistan, sources said.