Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Kashmir following the earthquake on 24 September 2019.

DFID has been liaising closely with the Government of Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) since the earthquake struck on 24 September 2019.

Key humanitarian partners, including UN agencies, met with the NDMA to discuss the response to the earthquake on Friday 27 September. The NDMA confirmed that the Government of Pakistan will not launch any formal appeal or request for National or International Assistance, but donors and agencies can provide assistance on a voluntary basis.

DFID stands ready to respond and the Natural Disaster Consortium partners have pre-positioned supplies which can be deployed at short notice.