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Thursday December 26, 2024

UK closely monitoring Imran Khan's matter: Vicky Ford

Foreign Office minister terms Pakistan's flooding 'terrible tragedy with massive humanitarian consequences'

By Murtaza Ali Shah
September 07, 2022
Foreign Office minister Vicky Ford speaks during a session at the House of Commons. — Screengrab/Video by author
Foreign Office minister Vicky Ford speaks during a session at the House of Commons. — Screengrab/Video by author

The future of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is a matter for the country’s courts, Foreign Office minister Vicky Ford said as she outlined aid following the “terrible tragedy” of flooding across the nation.

Ms Ford also said the UK was "monitoring the situation regarding the former prime minister of Pakistan very closely", adding "any decision to progress charges" was a "matter for Pakistan’s judicial community."

"I would really like to see not only we press through all diplomatic channels for a fair and transparent process regarding the former prime minister of Pakistan, but also more importantly for us to increase the paltry £1.5 million that we have committed to help Pakistan in terms of aid directly from the UK at a time of such disaster when we have such strong bilateral relations between our countries," Labour MP Sam Tarry (Ilford South) told the Commons.

"This is a terrible tragedy with massive humanitarian consequences for the people of Pakistan. The UK was the first country in the world to announce its own financial assistance and, of course, we increased that significantly in the announcement that we made of a further £15 million on Friday," Foreign Office minister Vicky Ford replied.

"This means that the UK is already supplying more than 10% of the immediate need for assistance that the Pakistan government and the United Nations have called for," she added.