Bilawal reaches Germany after accepting barriers in flood relief activities

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has left the country for paying another foreign visit to Germany followed by the United States (US) visit after giving the advice to expedite flood relief efforts.

FM Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stayed in the country for a few days after concluding his US visit. After holding a press conference, he departed for another foreign visit.

Regarding FM’s two-day Germany visit, the Foreign Office (FO) said, “Besides helping to consolidate and expand bilateral relations with Germany, the visit will provide a valuable opportunity to strengthen Pakistan’s engagement with an important member of the European Union and share our perspective on climate-induced floods in Pakistan and regional and global issues.”

During his stay in Karachi, Bilawal held a press conference in which he admitted that the government was facing barriers in expanding its flood relief activities and failed to reach all flood-affected people across Sindh.

Addressing a press conference at the Chief Minister House, Bilawal, also the foreign minister of the country, regretted that some politicians were hatching conspiracies and giving irresponsible statements to impede the flow of international assistance for the affected people.

“One-third of the country has been inundated but some politicians, instead of coming over to help the affected people, were playing politics, demanding elections, and trying to subvert the government’s efforts to rescue and rehabilitate the affected population,” he told reporters.

He appreciated the efforts of the Sindh government to deal with floods, stressing that the so-called nationalists were misguiding people. “We did not flood anyone or any area. It was the natural flow of water that inundated the areas in its natural path,” he added.

Bilawal said that the international community was ready to help but deplored that some politicians were hatching conspiracies and giving irresponsible statements to subvert the government’s relief efforts and trying to prevent aid from reaching the affected people.

Responding to a question, he agreed that the government had not reached out to each and every affected person mainly because the “catastrophe is so huge”, Express Tribune quoted the PPP chairman.

Analysts expressed sorrow over the lack of interest of FM Bilawal in actively taking part in flood relief activities but advising others to expedite the flood relief activities despite knowing the barriers. They said that the situation of flood devastation was being discussed globally and foreign delegations were visiting Pakistan to help the flood victims but the country’s foreign minister was spending most of the days abroad.

Earlier in August, the foreign minister had cancelled his tour of four European countries, including Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, in view of countrywide damages by the floods.