A special Pakistani rescue team, along with emergency relief supplies, arrived in Colombo aboard a C-130 aircraft on Wednesday to support Sri Lanka’s ongoing flood-response efforts following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
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The mission was dispatched on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Major General Faheem Ul Aziz (retd), and Sri Lanka’s deputy minister for ports received the team at Colombo airport. The envoy reaffirmed Pakistan’s solidarity with Sri Lanka, stressing that Islamabad “stands with Sri Lanka in times of adversity.”
Officials said an additional 200 tonnes of relief goods will reach Sri Lanka by sea in the coming days. Pakistan Navy and aviation units are already assisting in surveillance, medical evacuation, and rescue operations across affected regions.
The catastrophe has inflicted widespread destruction: at least 465 people have been confirmed dead, 366 remain missing, and more than 1.5 million people have been affected nationwide. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency and appealed for international support as rescuers struggle to reach areas cut off by collapsed infrastructure and power outages.
Earlier, Federal Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) remains committed to providing disaster-response assistance both within Pakistan and abroad. NDMA has separately dispatched another 200 tonnes of relief goods via ship.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also spoke by phone with President Dissanayake, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of life and property. In a message on X, he praised the “swift and courageous” response of Sri Lankan authorities and reiterated that Pakistan, as a “neighbour and brotherly country,” stands in full solidarity with Colombo.
The floods — intensified by torrential monsoon rains and back-to-back tropical systems — have become the deadliest disaster in Sri Lanka since the 2004 tsunami. Similar extreme rainfall events have also struck Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, with regional death tolls surpassing 1,300. Scientists warn that climate change is fuelling more severe storms as warmer oceans and air increase rainfall intensity.
