Daily Times

An 11-member delegation of Chinese experts arrived in Pakistan to share their technical knowledge and experience with the country regarding flood management analysis based on meteorological, hydrological, hydraulic, geospatial, and damages and losses datasets.

The delegation, comprising mid to senior-level experts, during its stay has been holding meetings with line departments, field experts and will conduct field surveys of flood-affected areas, according to Gwadar Pro on Thursday. On the first day of the visit, the delegation was briefed by the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Institutive (PD&SI), Ahsan Iqbal and officials from the National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC), NDMA, SUPARCO, and Meteorological Department at NFRCC on flood damages and the whole response to the calamity from the government and humanitarian organizations.

Mr. Iqbal welcomed the delegation from the “very dear and iron brother country China” and said that through post-disaster assessment, Pakistan will develop strategies for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the people. “We must reconstruct and rehabilitate our infrastructure to be more resilient and more adaptable to future climate change, “said Ehsan Iqbal, adding that Pakistan will get advices and guidances from the Chinese experts in building a very strong strategy to meet challenges of climate disasters in future. “I hope cooperation between NDMA and emergency services organizations in China will be very close (to us) in the future so that we can share our experiences and learn from each other,” he added.

Xu Xianbiao, from the Department of Flood Control and Drought Relief, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, said that in the wake of unforeseen catastrophic floods in Pakistan, the Chinese Government and people attached great sympathies and concern to the suffering people. Mr. Xu Xianbiao said that the Chinese Government has dispatched a delegation to work fast and accurately with experts from Pakistan to tackle the challenges. “By working together with Pakistani brothers and sisters, we will make sure that our advices will be based on the national factors, conditions of the affected places and the local development situation, so that the advices could be applied in short terms,” Xu Xianbiao said, adding, “We will be working together with Pakistani brothers, understanding their traditions and their habits in this mutual learning occasion”. Chairman NDMA, Lt. Gen Akhtar Nawaz Satti thanked the Chinese experts for their visit at this critical time of climate-induced catastrophe. “During this 10-days visit, we will be able to benefit from China’s experiences and share our experiences, particularly for the situation we are dealing with,” he said, adding that the visit will further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in disaster management.

The 11 experts delegation came from the Ministry of Emergency Management of China, the Ministry of water resources of China, and the Meteorological Administration of China. The ministries have nominated leading engineers with experience in floods and droughts to forge this delegation. The delegation has established a cooperation mechanism with Pakistani experts and authorities concerned even before its arrival in Pakistan. Every member of the delegation has been supported by an experienced team in Beijing.