Floods: US pledges support as Pak appeals for more aid

New Delhi: The US has pledged its full support for flood-hit Pakistan as Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi today appealed the international community to provide immediate aid to cope with the humanitarian crisis.

Qureshi, who is in New York to drum up funding from the international community to combat the humanitarian crisis caused due to the floods, said,: "Frankly it is beyond just national resources. We do need international assistance and we need international assistance now. You can help and your contribution will be invaluable," he added, pointing out that the amount of funds need would rise dramatically as Pakistan moved from the emergency phase into the rebuilding its infrastructure.

Obama's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, who was speaking in New York along with Qureshi, noted that his motto along with Clinton's, in case of the present flooding in Pakistan, is "to be the first with the most assistance."

American's motivation behind providing tremendous aid to Pakistan during this flooding is not solely the strategic advantage that Islamabad has for Washington in the fight against Al Qaeda and Taliban, Holbrooke said. "Pakistan is uniquely important to our own interest but that is not why we're here today," Holbrooke said, noting the Washington would come to the aid of Islamabad wherever it was located. "We're here for a relief effort. We are not oblivious to the strategic and political implications of this situation," he added.

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Qureshi, in turn, thanked the US, which has so far committed more than $90 million in aid. "Thank you America," he said, noting that Washington had "set the tone" for other countries to give money. "You have shown the world that you are a caring nation and I am here to thank you for it."

The foreign minister also admitted that the relief efforts by the government had been slow in the beginning but now things were picking up. "Initially it was shock and paralysis," he said. "We are out of it now and we are getting our act together."

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The latest figures indicate that out of the $459 million appeal by the UN, $241 million has been received, which is 52.6 per cent. 20 million Pakistanis have been impacted by the floods and eight million are in need of emergency assistance.