Japan on Tuesday said it would give five million dollars in supplies to Pakistan to help internally displaced persons (IDPs) displaced by conflict as part of aid to be pledged at a Tokyo donors'' meet next week.
The Federal Republic of Germany has also increased assistance by making available an additional one million euro from its humanitarian aid budget for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Pakistan, said German Consulate General in Karachi.
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said Japan would give 500 million-yen (4.97 million dollars) in supplies through UN agencies and the Red Cross. Japan will invite President Asif Ali Zardari and US regional envoy Richard Holbrooke, along with officials from a dozen countries including China, South Korea and some European states, to its April 17 aid meeting.
The Tokyo meeting aims to stabilise the Islamic world''s only declared nuclear power and is expected to drum up billions of dollars in aid pledges. "Stabilisation of Pakistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan and battles against terrorism, will directly lead to peace and stability in the international community," said the ministry in a statement.
Japan, which has been officially pacifist since World War II, relies on economic aid as a key tool of foreign policy and also hosted a major donors'' conference for Afghanistan after the 2001 fall of the Taliban. According to the United Nations, the number of internally displaced persons could rise further during 2009.