Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday thanked Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif for what he called a “warm welcome and positive gesture” after she publicly greeted him on his visit to Punjab.
In response to a post on X by Maryam, Bilawal wrote: “Thank you Madam Chief Minister for the warm welcome and positive gesture.”
In her message, Maryam had said, “I warmly welcome @BBhuttoZardari on his visit to Punjab. Punjab is your home and you will always find a place of respect here.”
“Thank you for your kind remarks. You have my heartfelt good wishes and prayers,” she added.
In October, Maryam had claimed that her government had neither complained nor sought help from anyone to help flood-affected citizens, saying that Punjab would handle the crisis through its own resources.
“I did not extend my hands to anyone. I have protected the self-respect of the people of Punjab,” she said in an apparent reference to Bilawal’s appeal to the Center to seek international assistance for flood victims.
Earlier in September, the PPP chief had criticized the “delay” in initiating this process, calling it “beyond understanding” and pointing out that such appeals were standard practice for disasters of this scale internationally.
He noted that similar steps had been taken for the last floods when he was Secretary of State, as well as for the 2010 floods and the 2005 earthquake.
The two key allies subsequently engaged in a fiery war of words that began over compensation for floods through Benazir’s Income Support Program (BISP).
The verbal altercation later subsided after the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) scrambled a delegation comprising Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq who met President Asif Ali Zardari in Nawabshah.
