Social media explodes after Modi expresses grief over Pakistan floods: 'Reflects poorly on you'

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday (29) said he was saddened by the devastating flood situation in Pakistan in a rare outreach to the western neighbour, sparking wide reactions from various quarters. More than 1,100 people have died in the floods while property worth $10 billion (£8.5 billion) has been destroyed.

It was also on the same day that the finance minister of Pakistan spoke about Islamabad reopening trade routes with India. Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also spoke in favour of more regional trade and New Delhi's helping hand to make the neighbourhood more "generous" and "non-reciprocal" as it was in the case of crisis-hit Sri Lanka.

“Saddened to see the devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, the injured and all those affected by this natural calamity and hope for an early restoration of normalcy,” Modi said in a tweet in the evening.

The ministry of external affairs did not respond to questions whether Modi's message indicated that New Delhi was ready to provide aid to Islamabad to tackle the natural disaster, The Hindu reported. According to sources in Pakistan, nearly a third of the country was "under water" because of relentless downpour.

The Hindu also cited diplomatic sources saying Islamabad had not requested aid from India till the last reports came in and nor was there any offer from the Modi government.

Miftah Islmail, the finance minister of Pakistan, however, told the media in Islamabad that given the current situation, the Shehbaz Sharif government could consider lifting the country's three-year-old ban on trade with India and allow trade routes for vegetables and other essential goods.

“We will open duty-free import, make it easier and I also want to say that we will consider importing through the land border with India because these prices [of vegetables] are not sustainable,” Ismail was quoted as saying by the Pakistani media after he was asked questions about the destruction of standing crops across the South Asian country.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar said at an event on the significance of regionalism in South Asia, “Sometimes India as the biggest country has to step forward,” he said in response to a question from Sri Lankan High Commissioner in India Milinda Moragoda about energising organisations such as SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

“I would be a very strong votary of more regionalism, of India actually being more generous and more non reciprocal and more effective in what is building,” Jaishankar added, saying that if SAARC was “not working”, other regional forums should be pursued.

Meanwhile, Modi's tweet on Pakistan floods saw reactions from both side on the border on social media such as: