Political tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region took a back seat Saturday as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to offer help. Musharraf thanked him for his offer.It's good to see that help is getting there quickly. It's pretty amazing though that it appears that the Pakistani government is moving much faster than our own government did after Hurricane Katrina. But at least the U.S. government is sending help to our allies after this earthquake.
Musharraf called the quake "a major catastrophe" and said that "relief efforts began minutes" after it happened.
Pakistan's military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told CNN it was the largest relief operation the country has ever mobilized.
Tents, sleeping bags, blankets, water, food and a lot of help were arriving from all over the country and overseas, said Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
"The government has moved quickly, and we hope that we can minimize the losses," he said.
The United States, Britain, Germany, Turkey, Japan, the United Nations and non-governmental humanitarian groups have marshaled resources to help the region.
It is also nice to see that Pakistan and India are putting politics aside for the moment. Perhaps this tragedy can help bring the two countries closer together. They have made a lot of progress in the past few years, so they are already moving in the direction of peace.
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posted by Jonathan @ 2:09 PM
Saturday, October 08, 2005
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