[dropcap]I[/dropcap]ronically only a couple of days after Prime Minister Modi said ‘climate change’ is not really ‘climate change’ but that man who is changing (getting older) … nature’s fury has clearly shown that it distinguishes no age nor gender in its path. Modi was response was to a querry from students in Tinsukia in Assam during his live nation television interaction with students on Teachers Day on September 5. They said they were concerned about climate change and what PM Modi would do about it.
Students from Assam only know too well the devastating effects of the annual floods in Assam caused by the overflowing of the Brahmaputra river.But today with his visit to the flood affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir today PM would probably want to answer the same question differently.
The floods have unleashed havoc and wrecked infrastructure breaching roads and bridges and making people and cattle run for their lives. The airforce and army have both been pressed into service to evacuate victims even as the Prime Minister declared the floods a ‘national disaster’.But midst the chaos and havoc what surfaced high above the raging waters was Modi’s outreach to his counterpart in Pakistan Nawaz Sharif also engulfed in similar troubled waters . Modi offered Nawaz Sharif, oassistance in flood relief operations in areas “across the Line of Control”. Floods which have claimed over 100 lives in Jammu and Kashmir have also ravaged large areas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing scores.
“While reviewing the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, I was informed that the damage to life and property is equally, if not more, severe in areas across the Line of Control as well... In this hour of need, I offer any assistance that you may need in the relief efforts that will be undertaken by the Government of Pakistan. Our resources are at your disposal wherever you need them,” he said. , earlier in the day, extended all help to Pakistan while on a visit to J&K which is reeling under the worst flood in the last 50 years. (Nearly 120 Killed in J&K Floods, PM Calls it a ‘National Disaster’) “India will never hesitate from doing work of humanity,” he had said.
Islamabad, in response, said it was “ready to help in whatever way possible to mitigate the suffering of the people affected by the floods”, referring to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir which has seen the nuclear-armed neighbours fight two major wars.
Relations between the two neighbours have soured after India called off Foreign Secretary-level talks scheduled to held in Islamabad last month after Pakistan’s ambassador met with Kashmiri separatist leaders just ahead of the official bilateral talks. Prime Minister Modi had later said that Islamabad made a “spectacle” of the tentative peace process which prompted Pakistan to say that it is “well within our right to meet Kashmiri leaders.”
But now with the floods severely affecting both populations of the respective countries many affected families will be hoping that the sooner the leaders get down to trusting each other and working in good faith …they will see hope in the days ahead to rebuild not only broken homes and infrastructure but their lives.
