London, Aug 14(ANI): The European Union has moved the flood-crisis in Pakistan to the top of its agenda in an attempt to undo the damage caused to the EU-Pak relations due to British Prime Minister David Cameron's accusation of Islamabad promoting terrorism.
Cameron, during his visit to India last month, had said that Pakistan could not "look both ways" in receiving billions of dollars in aid from Western nations while continuing to "promote the export of terror, whether to India or Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world".
He later defended his comments, and said: "I think it's important, as I say, to speak frankly about these things to countries that are your friends".
"The damage Cameron did with those comments really hasn't helped us. It damages the other 26 EU states what he said, but it's brought into focus the core issues and the need for a wider, better strategy," The Guardian quoted an EU diplomat, as saying.
"(UK Foreign Secretary William) Hague himself thought Cameron's words were a little naive and has really backed us in this discussion," the diplomat added.
The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Lady Ashton, has sent a letter to Foreign Ministers urging them to speed up support for Pakistan following fears that the floods could further destabilise the country.
Ashton believes that the EU should be constructing a plan for the next 10 years, "a coherent, sustainable long-term strategy to deal with EU-Pakistan relations for the long term".
"Pakistan is faced with so many issues, not just the floods: terror, development, India. It's in the EU's interest that we have a stable and prosperous Pakistan, but also the international community as a whole," Ashton said.
The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours just over two weeks ago, have claimed the lives of over 1,600 people and disrupted the lives of 14 million people, eight percent of the population.
The entire country has been inundated, but the misery does not seem to end as fresh downpours threaten to bring more destruction.
The Pakistan government, overwhelmed by the disaster, has been accused of being too slow to respond to the crisis with victims relying on the military and international aid agencies for help. (ANI)
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