The leader of India’s Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, has extended his heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved flood-affected families of Pakistan.
In a tweet on Friday, Gandhi said, “The floods in Pakistan are a terrible tragedy. My heartfelt sympathies to all the people affected and deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones.”
Earlier, Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi also offered condolences to Pakistan.
In a tweet posted on August 29, Modi said he was, “Saddened to see the devastation,” of the floods, adding that he hoped to see an early return to normalcy.
PM Shehbaz Sharif had replied to his Indian counterpart’s tweet, thanking him for his words of condolence.
Devastating floods in Pakistan have wreaked havoc across the country, leaving a path of destruction and loss in their wake. More than 1,400 people have lost their lives, one-third of whom are children.
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers triggered the disaster. The United Nations (UN) and Pakistan have linked the extreme weather to climate change; some 600,000 people have fled their homes.
As many as 33 million people of the 220 million South Asian nation have been affected in some way by the floods that swept away houses, roads, railways and bridges and submerged around 4 million acres of farmland.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is currently in Pakistan and all set to visit flood-affected areas of the country today (Saturday).
On Friday, Guterres said that Pakistan is one of the countries most affected by climate change despite its minimal contribution to the phenomenon.
During a briefing at the National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC), the UN chief said, “Pakistan has had little contribution to climate change but it is one of the most dramatically impacted by the consequences of climate change.”
Earlier this week, PM Shehbaz said that the financial impact of the biblical floods might be in the “trillions”.
