Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani yesterday called off his visit to New York for the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly due to massive flood devastation in Pakistan's southern Sind province.
The prime minister wants to personally oversee relief and rehabilitation efforts," the media aide to Gilani said in a statement.
Gilani has telephoned Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khan in Dubai and directed her to lead the Pakistan delegation at the UN session.
He is scheduled to tour the flood battered areas from Saturday to oversee relief measures being taken by the national and provincial disaster management agencies.
Humanitarian aid
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has formally called on the international community to help Pakistan and respond to the humanitarian needs of the more than five million people in the flood-hit areas.
"The Secretary-General is concerned about recent flooding in Pakistan that has affected more than five million people, with over one million homes damaged or destroyed and four and half million acres of land flooded," said a statement issued by his office in New York. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has put the toll of death and destruction following the heavy rains in Pakistan at 270 people killed, more than 300,000 displaced and 1.1 million homes destroyed or damaged. Some 4.5 million acres of farmland has been inundated, major roads damaged and water contaminated.
British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday telephoned Gilani and discussed the flood situation with him.
Last year, the military took charge of rescue and relief efforts, along with aid groups. The army is active again in this disaster.
