The United States has decided to provide Pakistan USD 10 million more in assistance to tackle the devastating floods that affected more than 33 million people in the country, it was announced on Tuesday.
The Foreign Office said in a statement that the fresh assistance was announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington after meeting with Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The aid is in addition to Washington's already announced financial assistance of USD 56.1 million.
Bilawal thanked Blinken for the gesture.
Bilawal in his meeting with Blinken apprised him of the devastation caused by the cataclysmic floods which left more than 33 million people displaced. Pakistan says the disaster has caused damages in the amount of USD 28 billion.
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He highlighted the relief efforts of the Government and people of Pakistan and thanked the US government for its assistance, saying no country could deal with a crisis of this proportion on its own.
Secretary Blinken expressed sincere condolences and solidarity with Pakistan over the loss of precious lives and monumental economic losses.
He reaffirmed the US commitment to continue cooperating with Pakistan in meeting the challenges of rehabilitation and reconstruction.
He also maintained that, given Pakistan’s enormous potential, the US private sector would like to invest in Pakistan including in the energy sector.
Bilawal underscored the historic and growing importance of the Pakistan-US relationship in promoting peace, security, and economic prosperity in the region.
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He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to deepening and broadening its ties with the US, particularly in the areas of trade and investment.
He underlined that both countries were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in a befitting manner and were charting a promising and mutually-beneficial roadmap for their future generations.
Bilawal expressed the need to assist Afghanistan in averting the humanitarian crisis and underlined that Pakistan would continue to work with the international community to achieve peace, development, and stability in Afghanistan.
Secretary Blinken thanked Pakistan for its support during the Afghan evacuation process.
(Inputs from PTI)
