By IANS,
New Delhi : Setting aside bitterness over the failed talks between India and Pakistan last month, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Friday spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and offered $5 million for flood victims in Pakistan.
In a telephone conversation, Krishna conveyed to his Pakistani counterpart India’s solidarity with the people of Pakistan in their hour of need, the external affairs ministry said here.
On behalf of the people and government of India, he also conveyed deepest sympathies and condolences to the people and Government of Pakistan at this natural disaster, the ministry added.
During the conversation, Krishna offered the Indian government’s assistance of $5 million for relief material from India for the victims of the floods.
India’s solidarity with flood victims and offer of aid to Pakistan is seen as an important gesture to create a positive atmosphere despite bitter recriminations that followed the July 15 talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
In the wake of a massive earthquake in October 2005, India had sent three consignments of relief material including tents, blankets and medicines. This was the first time Indian Air Force (IAF) planes had landed in Islamabad to deliver relief material.