ISLAMABAD, Oct 10: Pakistan on Monday expressed its gratitude for the overwhelming and rapid response it received from the international community to its call for assistance in the relief efforts following the worst-ever earthquake that hit parts of the country on Saturday.
"The response of international community has been excellent, it has overwhelmed us and we are grateful for that," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a weekly news briefing, her first after being appointed to this post.
The briefing mostly revolved around announcements and questions regarding offers of foreign assistance for relief efforts and pledges of financial aid made by several countries in the aftermath of the earthquake.
She said the Foreign Office launched the first appeal for foreign expert rescue teams within three hours of the disaster and for international assistance within six hours.
Giving details of the type and scale of assistance dispatched in special aircraft to Pakistan she said help in the form of rescue teams, sniffing dogs, rescue equipment, helicopters, ambulances, medicines, medical supplies, doctors, paramedics, and relief goods including food, blankets, plastic sheets, and tents was flowing in from a large number of countries.
The UK, UAE, Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Jordan, the US and Belgium have been among the first ones.
"We are also expecting more flights from the US, Russia, Iran, Germany, and Jordan, she said, adding: "This is just the beginning and international assistance is pouring in."
RESCUE TEAMS: Ms Aslam said the UK rescue team was the first to arrive. The 15-member team that arrived on Saturday was working at the F-10 Maragalla Tower site and another 88-member rescue team that arrived on Sunday was in Muzaffarabad, she added.
The breakdown given by the spokesperson of expert teams from various countries and places where they have been deployed for search and rescue operations is: UAE team to the NWFP, French to Rawalakot, Turkish to Muzaffarabad, Japanese to Batagram, Spanish to Bagh, Russian to Muzaffarabad, Iran to Manhsera. A five-member rescue team was also to arrive from Belgium later in the day.
Rescue teams are also on the way from Greece, Hungary, Singapore, Switzerland, Malaysia, Netherlands and Poland.
When the spokesperson was repeatedly asked about "delayed" US response, especially in sending the choppers despite the kind of cooperation Pakistan was extending to it in war against terrorism, she said there was no link between the two.
"We are a partner of the US in war against terrorism because that is in our national interest and we are not doing it for a price tag," was her emphatic response.
However, she noted that time was of essence as far as the rescue operations were concerned in the remote areas, pointing out that with every passing hour difficulties were increasing.
Ms Aslam said later in the day heads of all diplomatic missions in Islamabad would be briefed on the relief work and the government's requirements in this regard.
ISRAEL OFFER: The spokesperson was evasive when her attention was drawn to reports that Israel had offered to help in the relief efforts and whether Pakistan would consider it.
"We do not have diplomatic relations with Israel as such so there is no means of formal communication. Nevertheless, whosoever has made such an offer we are grateful for that," was her guarded response. To another question Ms Aslam said: "We have not received any specific offer. We will be able to comment and consider if and when that offer is received."
FOREIGN NATIONALS: She said there had been no reports of "any diplomat missing or worse" as a consequence of the earthquake. However, she confirmed the death of an Egyptian national in the Margalla Towers collapse and death of a Chinese worker in Kohistan where two other Chinese nationals were also injured. Husband and son of a Japanese woman working for JICA also died in the Margalla Towers tragedy on October 8 while she herself got injured.
SAARC SUMMIT: On whether the government in the wake of the recent disaster would call for postponement of the Saarc Summit in Bangladesh next month, Ms Aslam said: "There is no decision of this nature as yet."
KASHMIR STATUS: In response to a question spokesperson Tasnim Aslam categorically stated: "Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory, its disputed status is recognized by the UN and the international community sees it as a dispute."
Calling for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute she maintained that its disputed status was also reflected in bilateral agreements like the Simla Accord and pointed out that it was one of the key agenda items of the ongoing composite dialogue.
