Congressman Meeks sympathises over flood devastation

WASHINGTON DC: Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, Chairman House Foreign Affairs Committee, has conveyed his deepest sympathies to the Government and the people of Pakistan over the devastation caused by the recent floods and offered condolences on the loss of life. The adverse effects of erratic climate change call for greater collaboration to overcome this challenge, observed Congressman Meeks.

This he said during his meeting with Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Ambassador Masood Khan. Ambassador Masood Khan thanked Chairman Meeks for expressing solidarity with the flood victims as the country was trying to deal with this natural catastrophe. He also thanked for US financial assistance for the flood victims and disaster relief activities. Secretary Antony Blinken had announced $1 million to build resilience against natural disasters in addition to $100,000 in immediate relief for the flood victims of Pakistan.

Ambassador Masood Khan and Chairman Meeks also discussed parliamentary exchanges, security cooperation and economic partnership between the two countries. Talking to the ambassador, Meeks appreciated Pakistan’s commendable role in helping the United States with safe evacuations after 15th August 2021. “There was broad agreement on taking Pak-US ties to a higher level”, tweeted the Ambassador after the meeting. Meeks has had a close association with Pakistan and has been engaged with Pakistani leadership in different positions in the US Congress. He has held the position of House Foreign Affairs Committee since 2020. As a Democrat, he has been consecutively elected to the House of Representatives since 1998. Meeks visited Pakistan in November 2020. At that time, he was accompanied by Congressman Ami Bera (Representative from California). During the visit, the delegation met Pakistani parliamentary and government leadership and members of civil society.

Separately, Ambassador Masood Khan also received U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain. In his tweet, Ambassador Masood Khan said, “(It) was a pleasure to receive Ambassador Rashad Hussain and discuss with him human and religious rights as well as interfaith harmony.”