‘Haroon’s request for prefabricated houses aid from India not in sync with Pak policy’

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s representative at the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon’s request to the Indian authorities for providing prefabricated houses for the flood victims is not in sync with the Pakistan government’s policy as far as accepting aid from New Delhi is concerned, government officials have said.

When a high-ranked official was asked whether Haroon’s statement was in sync with Islamabad’s policy, he replied, “No,” The News reports.

In the wake of vast devastation caused by unprecedented floods in Pakistan, Haroon had pointed out that the aid doled out by the international community was inadequate, and that “India could provide prefabricated homes and grain as all these things are required in very large numbers and you have it across the border.”

In an interview in New York, he said, “One of the greatest things India can do is prefab housing. Millions of homes have gone. Whatever India can give in that would be a fantastic thing. The grain we eat in Pakistan is identical to the grain grown in East Punjab…”

India has already provided Pakistan with an aid of 25 million dollars for the flood-affected people.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Pakistan has so far received 291 million dollars in aid from the international community.

The “worst floods in Pakistan’s history”, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours in July, have claimed the lives of over 1,600 people and disrupted the lives of 20 million people, eight percent of the population. (ANI)