Kerala, August 24: In a recent report, the UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna as spoken to the Indian Express has said that there has been no official announcement by United Arab Emirates UAE on any specific amount as financial aid. He was quoted saying, “The assessment of relief needed for the flood and aftermath is ongoing. Announcing any specific amount as financial aid, I don’t think it is final since it is still ongoing."

Commenting on this, BJP IT Cell Chief, Amit Malviya tweeted saying, "It is disconcerting to note that a section aligned to the Communist-Islamist nexus in Kerala, celebrates a non-existent offer from a foreign country while runs down Indian state and organisations such as Seva Bharati simply because it doesn’t suit their ideological narrative." Kerala Floods: Rs 700 crore Aid Not Announced, Says UAE Ambassador Ahmed Albanna

According to an ANI report, the Centre clarified that Rs.600 crore released for tackling the flood situation in Kerala was only an advance assistance, and additional funds would be released from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on assessment of the damages in the flood-hit state as per laid down procedure. A few days back, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that UAE has offered financial assistance of Rs 700 crore to the state which has been devasted due to floods. There is a lot of debate currently going on whether UAE's relief message was a hoax or not.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 01:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).