Pakistan thanks India for $5 mn aid

NEW YORK - Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has thanked India for offering $5 million aid for the relief of flood victims in his country.

Qureshi, who is on a visit to the US, announced Wednesday that India had offered a $5 million donation for flood victims. He profusely thanked India’s top diplomat here for the offer, Dawn News reported Thursday.

He said he had received a telephone call in New York from Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna.

Pakistan had been unsure about how to respond to the aid offered by India Aug 13.

Krishna described the offer as a “gesture of solidarity with the people of Pakistan in their hour of need”, a statement issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad had said.

Sources in the Pakistan foreign ministry had said India’s offer was being considered. “We have not rejected the offer outright and a decision would be made soon,” a senior official had been quoted as saying.

Pakistan is grappling with its worst ever floods that have left over 1,600 people dead and affected over 20 million people.