India has handed over a cheque of $ 20 million to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected persons in Pakistan, after Islamabad's insistence that the aid be routed through the world body. On his part, Ban Ki-moon welcomed the contribution of the Indian government for the victims of the floods in Pakistan. "Natural disasters do not respect national boundaries," India's Envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said after handing over the cheque to Ban in the presence of Pakistan's envoy to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon, according to a report of the Press Trust of India (PTI). "This is a small but significant gesture from the highest levels of the Indian government conveying that the people of India stand by the people of Pakistan in their hour of need," Puri said and added that India has given an additional $ 5 million to the World Food Programme.
