Pakistan sends additional 200 tons of supplies to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka

Pakistan announced on Thursday that it had dispatched an additional 200 tons of humanitarian relief supplies to Sri Lanka, which will reach the cyclone-hit country on December 13.

Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said that the decision came after he met with Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo and an evaluation of the situation onsite.

The minister visited Sri Lanka on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s instructions to convey Pakistan’s solidarity after Cyclonic Storm Ditwah.

“The consignment includes tents, blankets, quilts, mosquito nets, camping lamps, mats, life jackets, inflatable boats, dewatering pumps, medicines, milk powder and ready-to-use therapeutic food,” he said.

He said Pakistan remained ready to continue helping Sri Lanka recover from the humanitarian and infrastructural damage.

During his separate meetings with Sri Lankan Deputy Speaker, Mohomed Risvi Sali and Transport Minister, Bimal Rathnayake in Colombo on Wednesday, Chaudhry conveyed a message of solidarity from Pakistan’s prime minister, stressing that Islamabad remained deeply concerned about the scale of human and material losses caused by the cyclone.

“Pakistan considers Sri Lanka not only a long-standing friend but a key regional partner, and will continue to support the country through every stage of recovery as it works to restore normalcy for affected communities”, the federal minister added.

A chain of tropical storms and monsoonal rains has battered Southeast and South Asia, setting off landslides, flooding vast tracts and cutting off communities from Sumatra island’s rainforests to the highland plantations of Sri Lanka.

At least 1,812 people have been killed in the natural disasters rolling across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam over the past two weeks.

More than two million people in Sri Lanka – nearly 10 percent of the population – have been affected by last week’s floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, the worst on the island this century.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said monsoon storms were adding more rain and making hillsides unstable, including in the central mountainous region and the north-western midlands.

On December 2, Pakistan dispatched 200 tons of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka on the directives of PM Shehbaz and with support from the Chief of Army Staff.