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NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday New Delhi and Washington still shared “very positive” ties, after US President Donald Trump reaffirmed their personal friendship and downplayed his earlier remarks about “losing India” to China.

The exchange comes amid strains after Washington imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on Indian imports, accusing New Dehli of fueling Moscow’s deadly attacks on Ukraine by purchasing Russian oil.

But Trump and Modi, both right-wing populists, have shared a strong bond since the US president’s first term.

“Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties,” Modi wrote on X, adding that India and the United States shared a “very positive and forward-looking comprehensive and global strategic partnership.”

Earlier, Trump told reporters that he “will always be friends with Modi.”

“India and the United States have a special relationship. There is nothing to worry about,” Trump said, downplaying his earlier remarks about “losing India” to China.

Last week, Modi visited China to attend a gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, his first visit to the country in seven years signalling a thaw between the two Asian powers.

Trump has appeared irritated at New Delhi as he seeks credit for what he said was Nobel Prize-worthy diplomacy for brokering peace between Pakistan and India following the worst conflict in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors in May.

India, which adamantly rejects any third-party mediation on Kashmir, has since given the cold shoulder to Trump.

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Pakistan received emergency supplies from the United States on Saturday as devastating floods battered Punjab, with three major rivers flowing from India surging at multiple points and forecasters warning of fresh torrential rains until Sept. 9.

Home to half of Pakistan’s 240 million people and much of its wheat and rice production, Punjab has been hit hardest by this year’s monsoon as nearly 50 people have died in the current Ravi-Sutlej-Chenab flood spell that started late last month, bringing the seasonal death toll in the province to 231 since June.

Nationwide, the National Disaster Management Authority said 905 people have been killed in rain and flood-related incidents since the monsoon began on June 26.

The government has primarily focused on evacuating people from settlements along the three rivers and breached protective embankments to save major cities, with the army doing rescue and relief work in most areas of the province. However, the Punjab administration announced a satellite-aided survey a day earlier to quantify flood losses before launching a compensation and rehabilitation program for families whose homes and farmland have been destroyed.

“US military aircraft delivered essential supplies at the request of the Pakistan military in response to the devastating floods,” the American embassy in Islamabad said in a social media post, adding that its Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker extended condolences to the people of Pakistan, whose lives have been uprooted by the widespread, catastrophic flooding.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday presided over a review meeting in Islamabad, directing the climate change ministry to present within two weeks a comprehensive plan to shield Pakistan from the adverse effects of monsoon rains and floods and to minimize future losses.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Punjab has warned the 10th monsoon spell would bring widespread heavy rains to the province starting today.

The top PDMA official, Irfan Ali Kathia, said in a statement urban flooding was expected to hit major cities.

He also said that commissioners and deputy commissioners across the province had been ordered to stay on alert, with the health, irrigation, public works, local government and livestock departments all instructed to prepare emergency responses.

RIVERS RISING

At 9 a.m. on Saturday, the Flood Forecasting Division reported a continued surge in river flows, with the Chenab carrying 380,193 cusecs at Chiniot and 412,992 cusecs at Trimmu Headworks near Jhang, both classified as high flood.

Further downstream, Panjnad in southern Punjab recorded 321,721 cusecs.

On the Ravi, flows reached 157,395 cusecs at Balloki Headworks south of Lahore and 101,225 cusecs at Sidhnai in Khanewal, both rated very high.

The Sutlej, swollen by upstream releases from India, was running at 311,673 cusecs at Ganda Singh Wala near Kasur, an extremely high level, and 132,916 cusecs at Sulemanki, further downstream.

Authorities in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province said a high flood wave was expected as water level at Panjnad was expected to increase by the end of the day before moving downstream into the Indus.

According to a situation report released Friday by the Sindh administration’s flood monitoring cell, 1,651 villages are likely to be affected and more than 1.6 million people face risk, with 121,769 already displaced.

The province has set up 528 relief camps and established 155 medical camps, where more than 33,000 patients have been treated.
Over 360,000 livestock have been evacuated.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said evacuations were underway in low-lying areas a day earlier, while Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah instructed officials this week to take proactive steps to protect people and livestock, saying no life should be lost in the floods this year.