Indian Government is most likely to decline the financial aid offered by foreign countries to help in rebuilding flood-hit Kerala, reported The Quint.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Tuesday that United Arab Emirates(UAE) has offered an aid of USD 100 million (about Rs 700 crore) for restoring the pulverized state. CM said, “Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and made the offer for assistance”, reported Deccan Chronicle.
The Maldives government has also offered to provide assistance of 50,000 (Rs 35 lakh) for the people of Kerala, as per Times of India report.
A Deccan Chronicle report claimed that the Central government has “taken a considered decision to rely solely on domestic efforts to tide over the challenges.”
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had tweeted on August 20 that he will reach Geneva and visit the United Nations(UN) to seek help for Kerala floods. He tweeted, “Landed in Geneva to meet w/ @UN & international humanitarian agencies for consultations on #KeralaFloods. While seeking help is the prerogative of the Govt of India, i am here, in close consultation w/ @CMOKerala@vijayanpinarayi, to explore what help could be possible if sought.”
A day after this tweet, according to Firstpost, the BJP led NDA government has decided not to accept any help from the UN. Firstpost quoted a Malayalam news portal, which claimed that the External Affairs Ministry had informed the UN that Indian government is capable of managing the relief efforts in the state on their own.
Deccan Chronicle reported, that the Central government by not accepting financial help from foreign nations wants to convey that they can themselves reconstruct and carry relief operations in the flood-hit state. The report also claimed that the Union government has asked the Indian embassies not to accept any financial assistance from foreign nations.