WEBDESK: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has called on the federal government to immediately launch an international appeal for assistance for flood victims.
In a post on X, Bilawal said the delay in making such an appeal was “beyond comprehension”, noting that it is standard practice across the world to seek help within 72 hours of major disasters.
He recalled that international appeals were made during Pakistan’s 2022 floods when he was foreign minister, as well as during the 2010 floods and the 2005 earthquake. “There is no excuse to cut off the millions affected from this assistance,” he said.
Bilawal welcomed the government’s decision to declare a climate and agricultural emergency but stressed that relief through the Benazir Income Support Programme should also be announced for flood-hit areas, as earlier promised by the prime minister.
He added that he had visited affected districts in central Punjab, south Punjab and Sindh, and held meetings with the Sindh chief minister and agriculture minister to discuss ways to support the farming community, which he described as the “most devastated sector” by the floods.
He further said that PPP would also move resolutions in provincial assemblies, the National Assembly and the Senate to press for urgent international assistance.
Read more: UK pledges $4m emergency aid as Pakistan battles floods: FO
