Pakistan and the United States have a functional relationship, but it's not as warm as it used to be. The US contributed more than a billion dollars towards rehabilitation and reconstruction for flood victims in 2010; this time that contribution is only $53 million so far. Pakistan will need something between $10 to $12 billion to deal with flood relief, flood re-high by elitation, and post-flood reconstruction. One thing China could do for Pakistan very easily is to give it debt relief. 30% of Pakistan's debt is owed to China.
After catastrophic flooding, Pakistani people are demanding better disaster management from their government. Their government wants reparations from wealthy countries.
This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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