ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reached out to leaders across political parties on Thursday, his office said, as heavy monsoon rains and flooding killed 458 people in several parts of Pakistan since Aug. 15. 

Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has been the worst-hit province due to torrential rains, where 394 people have been killed since Aug. 15. Twenty-six people have been killed in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, 20 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and 14 in Sindh since Aug. 15. 

Pakistan’s financial capital and southern port city of Karachi reported 17 deaths from Aug. 19-20 as heavy rains lashed the metropolis on Tuesday and Wednesday. The city’s main arteries and underpasses were flooded with rainwater as thousands of commuters remained stranded for hours on Tuesday. Several parts of the city remained without power for over 24 hours, according to news reports, until authorities started to clear the floodwaters on Wednesday. 

Cumulatively, Pakistan has reported 771 deaths since Jun. 26 and 993 injured in rain-related incidents. KP has reported the highest number of deaths, 465, followed by Punjab with 165, GB with 45, Sindh with 42, Balochistan and AJK with 23 deaths each while Islamabad has reported eight casualties as well since late June. 

Sharif contacted Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the ruling party in Sindh, to discuss the emergency situation after rains and flooding in Karachi. 

“The prime minister expressed grief over torrential rains, urban flooding, and the loss of precious lives in southern Sindh, particularly Karachi,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement. “The prime minister offered the federal government’s full support to the Sindh government in dealing with the emergency situation.”

Sharif directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to remain in close contact with the Sindh government and to extend all possible assistance to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and provide advance warnings to people about potential risks, the statement said. 

The Pakistani premier also spoke to the chiefs of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) parties to discuss the ongoing situation in the city. 

Sharif and Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, the JI’s chief, discussed the damage caused by recent rains in KP and ongoing relief operations in the city. Meanwhile, the Pakistani prime minister discussed possible risks due to more rainfall in Karachi with MQM-P chief and Education Minister Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the PMO said. 

“The prime minister assured that the federal government, through NDMA and other federal institutions, would extend full cooperation to deal with any emergency situation,” the statement said. 

The annual monsoon rains are vital for agriculture, food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers in Pakistan, though in recent years they have caused intense flooding and landslides amid shifting weather patterns that scientists attribute to climate change worldwide.

Pakistan is among the world’s most vulnerable nations to climate change effects, despite contributing less than 1 percent to global greenhouse gas emissions. Devastating floods, triggered by unprecedented heavy rains and the melting of glaciers in 2022, killed over 1,700 people and inflicted losses of around $30 billion, as per government estimates. 

HAMBURG: The lowest price offered in an international tender from Pakistan to buy 200,000 metric tons of sugar on Thursday was believed to be $560 a metric ton cost and freight included (c&f), European traders said in initial assessments.

Offers in the tender from the state trading agency Trading Corporation of Pakistan are still being considered and no purchase has yet been reported, they said.

The TCP can negotiate for several days in tenders before deciding whether to purchase.

The lowest offer was said to have been submitted by trading house Bare for small grade sugar. Bare also offered $580 for medium grade sugar, with a total 187,000 tons offered.

Three tender participants all offered 25,000 tons of small grade sugar: Sucden at $579, Dreyfus at $581.50 and Cofco at $592 all per ton c&f.

ED&F Man offered 32,000 tons of small grade at $579 a ton c&f and also 27,400 tons of small grade at $569 a ton c&f.

Al Khaleej Sugar was believed to have offered 60,000 tons of small grade at $572.30 and 30,000 tons of medium grade at $582.30 a ton c&f.

The TCP’s tender seeks price offers for fine, small and medium grade sugar, all for arrival in Pakistan by October 31.

Pakistan’s government has approved plans to import 500,000 tons of sugar to help to maintain price stability after retail sugar prices in the country rose sharply.

The TCP bought a total of 105,000 tons in its previous sugar tender reported on August 14.

Reports reflect assessments from traders and further estimates of prices and volumes are still possible later.