Pakistan's tweet on standing with flood-hit Sri Lanka and delivering relief material backfired spectacularly today with X users calling attention to the fact that the items were well past their expiry date. As images of the expired food and medical items sent as aid by Pakistan were widely shared online, reports said Sri Lankan relief officers had also flagged the problem consignment.
Visuals showed packets bearing an expiry date of 10/2024 (October 2024), with the caption - "Pakistan Stands With Sri Lanka today and Always". The consignment was found to be expired and unusable when it arrived in Sri Lanka. According to sources, Colombo has raised it with Islamabad unofficially as well as through formal channels.
This is not the first time that Pakistan has been caught in a mess like this - when India routed relief material like flour to Afghanistan through Pakistan during the 2021 Taliban takeover of the country, it had reached in a contaminated and damaged state.
At least 334 have died in Lanka, in floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah. Flood waters continue to rise in Colombo and landslide alerts remain in force in the hardest-hit regions. Thousands have been stranded and visuals showed people clinging to rooftops waiting for help.
Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency to deal with what he called the "most challenging natural disaster in our history", while calling for international aid.
India has sent 53 tons of relief material to Sri Lanka under Operation Sagar Bandhu, including 9.5 tons of emergency rations from two Indian Navy Ships in Colombo. Three Indian Air Force aircraft have been deployed for airlifting another 31.5 tons of relief materials including tents, tarpaulins, blankets, hygiene kits, ready-to-eat food items, medicines and surgical equipment, two BHISHM cubes along with five persons medical team for on-site training, and 80 persons special Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to assist in rescue efforts.
Another 12 tons of relief supplies on board Indian Navy Ship Sukanya (at Trincomalee) have also been sent to Sri Lanka.
In Sri Lanka's Kandy, residents were struggling without water, relying instead on bottled water collected from natural springs. Authorities warn that conditions could worsen as more rain is forecast in the coming days.
Catastrophic flooding and landslides in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand have killed over 1,200 people, with over 800 more missing. Indonesia remains the hardest-hit, where rescue crews struggle to access villages cut off after roads have been washed out and bridges have collapsed.
