Pakistan is thankful to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for the prompt and generous aid for the flood victims, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister, said here Tuesday. “The relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are deep and brotherly, open and well-known. They have not lost any warmth. The heartfelt response has belied the rumors and any baseless doubts about any cooling off of relations. The Saudi aid has been swift,” Qureshi said addressing media at the Conference Palace. He said the purpose of his trip was to express gratitude to King Abdullah and the people of the Kingdom for coming to the aid of Pakistan in their hour of need following the unprecedented floods in his country. “The government and the people of Pakistan are sincerely thankful for the humanitarian gesture,” he said. Qureshi said he met with Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz and delivered a letter for King Abdullah from President Asif Ali Zardari. He said he had detailed discussions with the Prince, which included rescue and relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction, the situation in Afghanistan, and relations with India. “Besides Saudi people and the government, people and governments in the Gulf countries also have feelings and attachment with Pakistan. There is a large community of Pakistanis in the Gulf countries and thanks are also due to all of them,” he said and added, that he was in Oman on Monday, where he met ministers of finance, foreign affairs and minster of legal affairs and international assistance, besides the Pakistani community. On Wednesday Qureshi will leave for Kuwait and then to Qatar. The minister said India and Pakistan have given and received humanitarian aid from each other at times of natural disasters in their countries. There have been differences, and issues between the two but India has realized that Pakistan faces a big challenge. “The assistance shows that there is no trust deficit,” he said. Qureshi said that aid to Pakistan has been mobilized internationally. In the beginning the world did not realize that this was the flood of the century. The record of 1929 was broken and the water level was higher than at that time. Pakistan took steps to make the damage widely known and create awareness of the gravity of the situation. Pakistan also briefed the President of the UN General Assembly who invited all the members. The three-hour meeting lasted for two days when statements of solidarity, and support for Pakistan were made and resources were committed and additional $254 million were pledged . Another meeting will be held in New York on Sept. 19 not only to review the situation but also to chart the way forward. “The support from the West, both from the people as well as the governments, has been very encouraging,” he said, and added, “For example, telethons were held in Germany and Britain. German people have so far donated $44 million. In Britain, millions of pounds have been committed through text messages. Same in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE.” He said Australia, Canada, the United States, Japan, even Afghanistan, are responding. “International response is much better and wider today than it was earlier,” he said. Qureshi said the next step of the strategy is to mobilize the European Union. He will go there after the Gulf visit. He will meet with the head of foreign relations of the EU. “I will try to have trade with Pakistan instead of aid. The loss to life is less than material loss. Infrastructure is damaged and destroyed,” he said. He said work to assess damage has begun and with the assistance of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and it will be completed in early next month. He added that the Muslim Ummah is also being sensitized and made aware how big the challenge is. A meeting of the Islamic charitable organizations is planned to be held in Islamabad. He stressed that aid was going to the right people. “There are three phases for flood relief. We are in the first phase –rescue and relief. Second phase will be of recovery and the third will be of reconstruction and rehabilitation,” he said. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is having talks with provincial governments and colleagues to establish an overseeing council with checks and balances, a transparent system, a website where people can log on to and get all the relevant information. “They can give aid to whatever agency or organization they want and trust, or do it on their own,” he said. He said the government is keen to see that the assistance goes to the right people and that there are checks and balances. It will do whatever is humanly possible to see the assistance does not go in wrong hands.
