Aid agencies in Pakistan seek easing of restrictions on food imports from India

A Pakistani minister said international aid agencies asked for the loosening of restrictions on food imports from India to help the people displaced due to floods in Pakistan.

International aid agencies struggling to help hundreds of thousands of people displaced by deadly floods in Pakistan have asked for the loosening of restrictions on imports of food from Pakistan's old rival India, a Pakistani minister said.

Unusually heavy monsoon rains have triggered floods that have submerged a third of Pakistan and killed more than 1,100 people, including 380 children. The United Nations has appealed for $160 million to help with it termed as an "unprecedented climate catastrophe".

Pakistan faces surging food prices, compounding the misery for the millions of people affected by the disaster.