ISLAMABAD   -   Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday pre­sented a cheque of Rs 15 mil­lion to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as a contribution from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs towards the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund.

This amount represents the contribution made by the offi­cers and staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Prime Min­ister’s Flood Relief Fund 2022.

Besides Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Min­ister of State Hina Rabbani Khar, Foreign Secretary So­hail Mahmood and Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Friday held a meeting with the traders and industrialists belonging to Si­alkot and received a cheque for the flood affectees from them.

The delegation included Chairman Sialkot Internation­al Airport Khawaja Masood Akhtar, President Sialkot Cham­ber of Commerce and Industry Mian Imran Akbar, CEO Al-Ghazi Tractors Muhammad Ihtisham Ikram and other industrialists and traders. They also donated relief assistance including ra­tion and other essential items for the flood affecteees.

The delegation told the PM that the trading community of Sialkot had also formed a strategy to give jobs to the people in the affected areas. The business community would also play a role in con­structing houses in the af­fected areas.

The PM appreciated the donation made by the delega­tion and urged that people from every section of soci­ety should come forward to tackle the disaster and in this connection the role of traders and business community was very important.

Shehbaz Sharif said the tor­rential rains caused death of many people and resulted in huge financial losses. Stand­ing crops and livestock were destroyed and communica­tion infrastructure was badly damaged. He said the federal government was extending an assistance of Rs 25000 to each affected family in a transparent manner. The government had allocated an amount of Rs 70 billion for the purpose, he added.