For a country, notoriously becoming an epicenter of terrorism it had nurtured as state policy over decades, and now reaping the consequences, international response though tardy has once again become the savior, as during its saga of economic crises and bail-outs. Aid offers were slow in response to UN appeal while the media coverage for something like a tsunami in Pakistan from across the world seemed relatively negligible.

Pakistan has remained a fragile democracy in between long spells of military rule in its 63-year history, and Governments formed after few elections have functioned under sufferance, as the Army calls the shots. The present Government, largely of the Progressive People's Party, headed by Mr. Yousaf Raza Gillani, functions apparently with tacit acceptance of civilian authority by General Kyani heading the Armed Forces.

India had welcomed the return of an elected government in Pakistan in 2008 but Pakistani terrorism in Mumbai in November of that year had ruptured the composite dialogue between the two countries to settle all outstanding issues. Pakistan has not facilitated resumption of the dialogue with credible steps to punish the known perpetrators of the terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, Pakistan had not even taken kindly to India's offer five million dollars toward flood disaster relief but later New Delhi was advised to channel it via the United Nations. India has since raised the amount to $ 20 billion. Despite the large constituency for peace and friendship among the people in both countries, and latent sympathy for the millions who have suffered, the gigantic disaster has not triggered any humanitarian initiatives on the Indian side as well.

Although the United Nations stepped in soon after the devastation in mid-August and mounted a global effort to mobilize aid for relief and rehabilitation, now totaling over 800 million dollars, a major rescue effort with helicopters and food supplies had been quickly launched by the United States, the long-term ally with heightened concerns over the impact of the catastrophe on the ongoing war against the al Qaeda and Taliban terror groups fortified in the mountainous borders of Pakistan-Afghanistan.

For the Obama Administration, there was also, apart from humanitarian, the strategic compulsion to remove popular distrust of USA and to be perceived as Pakistan's true friend, despite the billions of dollars that Washington has been providing throughout its chequered history. From USA, military helicopters and service personnel were pressed into service and Washington committed $ 150 million for relief assistance.

President Obama directed his Administration to stand by Pakistanis and assist them in confronting the worst challenge while Secretary of State Mrs. Hillary Clinton created a Pakistan Relief Fund inviting contributions from Americans. US Senator John Kerry, co-author of the five-year $ 7.5 billion aid package for Pakistan's development voted by the Congress last year, visited flood-devastated areas and directed 50 million dollars from it to be diverted for flood relief operations.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who had earlier made an aerial survey, reported “thousands of villages were simply washed away and roads, bridges, buildings, crops and jobs wiped out”. He compared it to a slow-motion tsunami with destructive power that would accumulate and grow with time. The UN Humanitarian Affairs Unit is on the scene, working round the clock to deliver desperately needed food, shelter, medicine and clean water, he said and assured UN help to help Pakistan rebuild.

International financial institutions - ADB, World Bank and IMF - have now followed up with substantial assistance totaling $ 3.5 billion, funds being disbursed between now and end of 2011.These include two billion from the Asian Development Bank over two years, one billion from World Bank for fiscal year ending June 2011, and 450 million dollars from IMF to be disbursed this month as emergency funding to cope with the economic impact of floods.

At Pakistan's request, ADB and the World Bank have already begun a Damage and Needs Assessment in collaboration with UN and other donors, which would bring out the estimated value of assets destroyed - social, physical and economic infrastructure. It would cover public buildings, transport and communication, energy, irrigation, water and sanitation, health and other social infrastructure. This assessment would provide the basis for a framework of policies and programmes for rehabilitation and reconstruction. Both these institutions have done similar assessments in Pakistan's earlier natural disasters including the 2005 earthquake in which over 85,000 people were killed.

In Washington, Pakistan's Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh had discussions with IMF and the World Bank in the last week of August on the economic fall-out from the disaster. IMF managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the natural disaster had severely impacted on Pakistan's economy and resulted in worsening of the fiscal situation. IMF announced it would continue to support Pakistan's economy under the 11 $ billion standby credit, which was initially approved in November 2008 for $ 7.5 billion and later expanded. On completion of fifth review under this programme, $ 1.7 billion would be disbursed which together with emergency assistance would total $ 2.2 billion in the second half of 2010.

In view of disaster's impact, some of the parameters of the existing program may need to be changed, according to Dr. Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department. The floods would lower growth and affect the budget and government would raise less revenue. Pakistan would have massive reconstruction costs down the road running into billions of dollars, he said.

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick told Pakistan Finance Minister that the Bank would raise its flood-related support in the current fiscal year to US$1 billion, the money coming from the interest-free IDA, the Bank's fund for poorest countries. Pakistan's reconstruction and recovery also required long-term support. “We need to respond strongly to the crisis at hand, but we need to do it without losing sight of important economic reforms,” Mr Zoellick said.

The disaster has underscored Pakistan's fiscal vulnerability and dependence on foreign aid, according to Mr Zoellick who said renewed commitment to governance and fiscal reforms would be important to mobilize domestic revenues and ensure that funds reach the poor people it is intended for. The response of donors to the floods would also depend on the government's ability to deliver in this area. (IPA Service)