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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department on Thursday forecast thunderstorms and rain over the upper catchments of all major rivers in the next 24 hours, as the monsoon death toll since late June rose past 1,000 and authorities warned of high flooding in the Indus River in southern Sindh province.

Heavy rains and excess water released from Indian dams have caused three major rivers — the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej — in the eastern Punjab province to swell late last month, inundating more than 4,700 villages in the country’s agricultural heartland, destroying crops and homes and forcing millions to flee.

The surging rivers have inundated crops and prompted the government to launch rescue operations to bring people to safety by setting up relief camps in different areas. While the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) announced this week that the situation was gradually normalizing, concerns for riverine floods increased in the downstream southern Sindh province as waters from the three monsoon-swollen rivers met the Indus.

“The River Indus at Guddu is in medium flood, Sukkur is in high flood and Kotri is in low flood level,” the PMD said in a statement, referring to three major barrages in Sindh.

“River Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala is in medium flood whereas at Sulemanki and Islam it is at low flood level,” it continued. “The River Indus at Kotri is likely to remain in medium flood level up to the end of this month.”

Pakistan’s weather office said thunderstorms with light to moderate rain were also expected in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Lahore, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Zhob.

It predicted mostly dry weather after Sept. 19.

At least 300,000 people across Pakistan remain in tents, according to official figures. Over 2,000 relief camps are reported operational nationwide, with rescue operations continuing in Punjab and Sindh in coordination with the Pakistan Army and Navy.

Pakistan, which contributes only one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, is among the countries most severely affected by climate change.

Catastrophic floods in 2022 killed 1,700 people, affected 33 million and caused over $30 billion in damage.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to export corn to neighboring Iran after the two countries finalize the arrangement in the coming weeks, according to an official statement released on Thursday after Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan’s meeting in Tehran with Iran’s agriculture minister Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh.

Pakistan and Iran, which have long been at odds over instability along their shared border, plan to expand bilateral trade to $10 billion from about $3 billion.

The two countries exchanged 12 agreements and memorandums of understanding during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s August visit to Pakistan to boost cooperation in commerce, culture, tourism, transportation and scientific and educational exchanges.

Khan and Nouri Ghezeljeh reviewed progress on those accords and focused on strengthening agricultural cooperation.

“During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to implement decisions taken by the Joint Committee on Agriculture Cooperation and agreed to facilitate imports of agricultural products,” the commerce ministry said in a statement circulated in Islamabad.

“The Iranian Ministry of Agriculture Jihad will dispatch a high-level delegation to Pakistan within the next two weeks to finalize arrangements for the export of Pakistani corn to Iran,” it added.

The statement said Khan thanked Iran for increasing imports of Pakistani rice and meat, while Iran expressed interest in joint studies with Pakistan’s Seed Councils on developing disease-resistant seed varieties to improve food security.

Both countries have, in recent years, discussed barter trade frameworks to get around banking and currency restrictions.

Sanctions and foreign exchange shortages remain key hurdles for Iran, making barter systems and cross-border markets central to its trade strategy with Pakistan.