Indian politician and leader of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday extended his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families, who lost their loved ones in cataclysmic floods in Pakistan.
The devastating floods across the country have caused unprecedented damage to human life and infrastructure as thousands of houses, roads, railway tracks, bridges, livestock and crops have been swept away, while more than 1,400 people have lost their lives.
Huge areas of the country are still inundated and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. The government says the lives of nearly 33 million people have been disrupted. The government has blamed the flooding on climate change.
Regretting the loss of lives in Pakistan, Gandhi said “the floods in Pakistan are a terrible tragedy”.
“My heartfelt sympathies to all the people affected and deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones,” he said.
Pakistan most affected despite contributing least to climate change: UN chief
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has said that Pakistan was one of the countries most affected by climate change despite its minimal contribution to the phenomenon.
“Pakistan has had little contribution to climate change but [it] is one of the most dramatically impacted by the consequences of climate change,” Guterres said during a briefing at the National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC) alongside Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The United Nations has launched an appeal for $160 million in aid to help Pakistan cope with the disaster though Pakistan estimates the floods have caused losses of about $18 billion.
