India offers $5m aid for Pak flood victims

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Prime VIP
New Delhi, August 13

Nearly a month after the failure of his talks with Shah Mehmud Qureshi in Islamabad, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna today spoke to his Pakistani counterpart and offered an assistance of $ 5 million for provision of relief material from India for flood victims in Pakistan.

“In a telephone conversation, Krishna conveyed to Qureshi this gesture of solidarity with the people of Pakistan, in their hour of need,” an External Affairs Ministry statement said.

Krishna also conveyed to Qureshi on behalf of the people and the Government of India his deepest sympathies and condolences to the people and the Pakistan Government on the natural disaster.

Official sources said the ‘brief’ conversation between the two centered around the floods in Pakistan. No other issue came up during the meeting.

However, the very fact that the two ministers spoke to each other is being seen in diplomatic circles as a significant step in the direction of ending the acrimony that had clouded the bilateral relationship after their July 15 meeting in Islamabad.
 
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