- Pakistani and Indian PMs agree that SAARC should conduct regular joint exercises on disaster relief and rescue
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday, expressed grief over the loss of life and property due to the recent earthquake and offered assistance to the calamity-hit people in India, officials said.
Indian officials say that over 50 people were killed in the Indian states of Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh in the earthquake this week. Hundreds more were injured and missing.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif called his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi today to offer condolences and sympathies over the loss of precious lives and devastation caused by the earthquake that hit India on April 25, 2015,” the Foreign Ministry said.
“While sympathising with the government and the bereaved families of the victims, the PM Sharif said that Pakistan and its people express support and solidarity with the government and people of India and are ready to extend every possible assistance that may be needed,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.
The PM reiterated what he had said during last year’s floods on both sides of the Line of Control that natural disasters of this nature highlight the importance of a joint regional approach for their effective management.
During the phone call, both the leaders expressed the need to develop an effective and well-coordinated Natural Disaster Management system in the region.
Modi thanked Sharif for his concern over the loss of lives and property in India. “I thank him for his kind words,” PM Modi said in a tweet.
“I suggested to PM Sharif that SAARC nations should conduct regular joint exercises on disaster relief and rescue,” Modi said.
“PM Sharif appreciated this idea and told me that we should take up such an initiative,” the Indian PM said in another tweet.
“SAARC nations can hold annual exercises of rescue teams, doctors etc on how we can minimise damage during natural disasters,” Modi said, adding that Sharif and he also discussed the unseasonal rains and its adverse impact on the crops.
Modi’s tweets come barely a day after an interview quoted Sharif as saying that India had failed to respond to Pakistan’s desire for good relations.