China has dispatched two Y-20 large transport aircraft of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force on Tuesday carrying some 3,000 tents to aid flood-hit Pakistan.
The transport aircraft took off from Shuangliu International Airport in Southwest China's Sichuan Province and is expected to arrive in Karachi Airport on the day at 4 pm.
The Global Times learnt from sources that Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong has lead a team to welcome the aid in Karachi.
Meanwhile, the Global Times learned from Pakistani Embassy in China that two more aircraft from China will carry another batch of humanitarian aid to Pakistan on Wednesday.
In an interview with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Feng Wei, a pilot of the aircraft, said the domestic transport aircraft is fully capable of complicated long-range transport missions in fast speed and adaptable to emergency use. The use of this military equipment is to ensure the most needed humanitarian aid can be delivered to Pakistan at an early time so as to help Pakistani people to combat floods and rebuild their homes.
Y-20 was on multiple missions of delivering disaster relief supplies to overseas countries. In 2021, two Y-20 carrying disaster relief supplies arrived in Tonga after traveling a record-breaking distance of more than 10,000 kilometers and withstanding challenges including the presence of volcanic ash. Experts said a single Y-20 is said to be able to carry more than 60 tons of cargo.
Liu Xiaojun, another pilot of Y-20 who is from Sichuan's Wenchuan, said "when Wenchun was hardly hit in 2008 by earthquake, Pakistan reached out to aid Wenchuan at the first time. As a Sichuan resident, I deeply felt the brotherhood friendship sharing weal and woe."
As all-weather strategic cooperative partners and "ironclad" friends, China and Pakistan have been sharing weal and woe for a long time, reaching out to each other and responding to major challenges such as natural disasters side by side, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry, told Tuesday's press briefing.
In the wake of Pakistan's floods, China responded immediately and will continue to provide much needed help to Pakistan in its disaster relief work, Zhao said, expressing his deep condolences to the people in the affected areas.
The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan said earlier that China will provide a batch of emergency humanitarian supplies, including 25,000 tents and other supplies in dire need, as well as $300,000 emergency cash assistance to the flood-affected Pakistan People in times of need.
Over 33 million people and 72 districts have been affected by the ongoing calamity of floods in Pakistan caused by this season's monsoon rains started in mid-June, the Xinhua News Agency reported, citing National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan.
The country suffered a 188 percent increase in rainfall throughout this season till August 28, in comparison to the average rainfall over the last three decades, the report said, adding that the 30-year-average rainfall in Pakistan had been 135 millimeters while during this monsoon it went up to 390 mm.
