Islamabad
\nPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Pakistan\u2019s Chinese friends for the increase in the volume of aid it provided to the country after the recent devastating floods. \u201cOur Chinese friends continue helping the flood victims in Pakistan. A total volume of aid has increased from 400 million RMB to 644 million RMB,\u201d tweeted PM Shehbaz.
\nThe premier said that Pakistan was \u201cdeeply obliged\u201d to the Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party, Red Cross Society of China, sister provinces and the People\u2019s Liberation Army for the assistance. The tweet came hours after well-placed sources told The News that PM Shehbaz is expected to embark on an official visit to China in the first week of November. \u201cLast minute details are being worked upon, but the visit is very much on,\u201d sources told. China was among the first countries to come to Pakistan\u2019s aid and had announced the provision of emergency humanitarian aid, including tents and urgently-needed relief material.
\nDevastating floods have engulfed large swathes of Pakistan, killing more than 1,600 people and devastating the country\u2019s infrastructure to cause damages estimated nearly at $30 billion.<\/p>\n
Apart from the lives lost, more than two million people\u2019s houses have been destroyed, and over one million livestock \u2014 a major source of income for rural households \u2014 have been lost in the floods.<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organisations are working in flood-affected areas, while aid from the international community is also trickling in gradually, but it is yet to cushion the catastrophe\u2019s damage.<\/p>\n
The floods have also raised questions on whether Pakistan will be able to pay its debts on time, with the local currency weakening against the dollar and the forex reserves diminishing over time.<\/p>\n
In this regard, PM Shehbaz and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari have sought climate justice to compensate for the destruction as the disaster was climate-induced \u2014 and Pakistan produces one of the lowest carbon emissions in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Pakistan\u2019s Chinese friends for the increase in the volume of aid it provided to the country after the recent devastating floods. \u201cOur Chinese friends continue helping the flood victims in Pakistan. A total volume of aid has increased from 400 million RMB to 644 million RMB,\u201d tweeted PM Shehbaz. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-286964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n