Amid criticism by some Pakistani politicians of his government's decision to accept USD five million in Indian aid for flood victims, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said it will be a "narrow approach" to refuse such an offer.
He said those opposed to taking aid from India should give reasons for their stand.
"I would like to ask the critics of Indian aid on what ground we should refuse it. It will be a narrow approach if we refuse aid from India,"
Gilani told reporters at his residence here.
After dilly-dallying for several days, Pakistan recently accepted India's offer to provide USD 5 million for the millions of victims of the devastating floods that have swept the country.
Gilani said the move has enhanced Pakistan's diplomatic image.
But, the move has been criticised by some politicians.
"The government has accepted the Indian aid offer," Senator Raja Zafar ul Haq, chairman of PML-N party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said.
"It was earlier reported in the media but the Foreign Minister (Shah Mahmood Qureshi) made it public on Friday. The US had urged Pakistan to
accept the Indian aid offer," Haq was quoted as saying by the 'Jang' newspaper.
Former Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar was quoted as saying that "it is beyond understanding that the government accepted the offer after few days."
However, Gilani said: "Would it not be a contrast if we refused the aid? On the one hand, we are stressing on the resumption of dialogue with India and on the other, we refuse its aid. We should come out of this approach and give a strong image to Pakistan."
He said he was chairing a high-level meeting when he was informed about India's offer to provide aid. "I told my Foreign Minister to thank his Indian counterpart for the aid," he said.
Gilani noted that both Pakistanis and Indians had collected funds for the flood-affected people.
Pakistan has received a tremendous response from the world community in response to its call for aid for the flood victims and the government has proposed an independent council to oversee the transparent spending of funds, he said.
"The international community trusted us and that is why such huge aid is pouring in," he said.
Meanwhile, Qureshi, who was in New York, noted that India and Pakistan had a past record of providing assistance to each other when faced with natural disasters.
"Well, we have been helping each other in the past. India has helped Pakistan during the 2005 earthquake. We responded to them when they had natural disasters," Qureshi told PBS News Hour.
"So, there is a precedent, and we are neighbours. So, this was a very welcome gesture on their part. And we in Pakistan appreciate this gesture,"he said.
Qureshi avoided the question on why it took so long to accept the Indian aid, but when asked whether there were political sensitivities
involved in accepting the offer he said, "No, as I said, there are past precedents. And, you know, they have helped us, and we have helped them."
Pakistan has been hit by the worst floods in 80 years, which have inundated one fifth of its land, killed around 2,000 people and impacted an estimated 20 million people with around 6 million in need of emergency aid, which includes 3.5 million children.
The UN has launched a flash appeal for USD 460 million out of which USD 263 million have been received, which are approximately 57 per cent.