US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US has provided $56.5 million aid to Pakistan in flood relief and humanitarian assistance this year after he met Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the State Department on Monday.
Mentioning the floods in Pakistan, Blinken expressed grief over the devastation and loss of lives. He assured Pakistan on US’ commitment to provide an aid of another $10 million regarding food security.
Both the US Secretary and Pakistan FM discussed partnering on food security, regional stability, economic prosperity and Afghanistan. They focused on numerous other issues such as marking of 75 years of the countries’ relations, security and the recent flood in Pakistan.
Blinken said, “We stand in strong solidarity with our friends in Pakistan, not only in solidarity, we are doing everything we can to be of assistance at this moment, just as Pakistan has been of assistance to us, including at the beginning of COVID,” he added.
Pakistani FM Bhutto stressed on the climatic change which is the reason behind the distressing floods in the history of Pakistan. Bhutto said, “This is a global problem that needs global solution, and your President has shown leadership on the climate front, so I think we’re ready to partners on this agenda.”
Bhutto further said, “I think Pakistan and the United States have shown over the last 75 years that we’ve been great powers – great partners and we’ve achieved great things together. In fact, whenever we’ve developed a distance, we’ve faltered, and I think it’s a great testament to our diplomatic relations that we’ve not only withstand the tests of time, but we are now re-engaged in a broader framework.”
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