NEW DELHI, DEC 2 : Pakistan\u2019s attempt at showcasing solidarity with flood-hit Sri Lanka spiralled into embarrassment after Colombo-bound relief packages shared by the Pakistan High Commission itself appeared to show an expiry date that had already passed, triggering a wave of criticism across social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The backlash erupted within hours of the High Commission posting photographs of the consignment on X, celebrating Islamabad\u2019s support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The labels on several packages, however, carried \u201cEXP: 10\/2024\u201d, prompting widespread accusations that Pakistan had shipped expired products to a nation battling one of its worst flooding crises in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PAKISTAN POSTS PHOTOS, GETS TROLLED<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlways standing together Pakistan stands with Sri Lanka today and always,\u201d the High Commission wrote while announcing the delivery of relief material meant for displaced families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the celebratory message was quickly overshadowed by the images it uploaded. Social media users flagged the \u201cEXP\u201d marking, commonly understood as \u201cexpiry date\u201d, pointing out that October 2024 was more than a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics accused Pakistan of disrespecting disaster victims by sending goods allegedly past their shelf-life. Some users also questioned why the mission had publicly posted photographs without inspecting the labels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Islamabad has not issued a clarification so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MEANWHILE INDIA STEPS UP WITH LARGE-SCALE AID<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Pakistan faced questions over its consignment, India ramped up a massive humanitarian mission to support Sri Lanka following Cyclone Ditwah, which triggered severe flooding, casualties and large-scale disruption across the island nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under Operation Sagar Bandhu, India has delivered 53 tonnes of relief material through air and sea routes since 28 November. More than 2,000 stranded Indians have also been evacuated from Sri Lanka, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNDRF teams continue search and rescue in isolated regions Over 150 persons have been rescued,\u201d the MEA said. Relief has been dispatched on Indian Air Force transport aircraft and Navy vessels, including INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri and INS Sukanya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar posted a photograph of INS Sukanya arriving in Trincomalee with humanitarian supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AIRLIFTS, HELICOPTER MISSIONS AND MULTINATIONAL RESCUES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In coordination with Sri Lankan authorities, Chetak helicopters from INS Vikrant and MI-17s of the IAF carried out extensive winching of stranded civilians, including pregnant women, infants and the critically injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those rescued included citizens of Sri Lanka, India, Germany, Slovenia, the UK, South Africa, Poland, Belarus, Iran, Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India initially handed over 9.5 tonnes of emergency rations from two Navy ships that reached Colombo soon after the cyclone. This was followed by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
31.5 tonnes of relief on IAF aircraft, tents, tarpaulins, blankets, medicines, hygiene kits, surgical supplies and two BHISHM medical cubes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An 80-member NDRF Urban Search and Rescue team<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another 12 tonnes aboard INS Sukanya<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Special IAF flights continued evacuation operations, with C-130J and IL-76 aircraft landing in Hindon and Trivandrum with groups of returning Indians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-PTI<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW DELHI, DEC 2 : Pakistan\u2019s attempt at showcasing solidarity with flood-hit Sri Lanka spiralled into embarrassment after Colombo-bound relief packages shared by the Pakistan High Commission itself appeared to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[348],"tags":[63,1803,28007,28008],"class_list":["post-146003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-new-delhi","tag-pakistan","tag-pakistan-under-fire-for-sending-expired-flood-relief-to-sri-lanka","tag-photos-go-viral"],"yoast_head":"\n