Floods hit Asia hard, but few states demand aid

By Peter Apps

LONDON (Reuters) - Heavy flooding across Asia has devastated crops and may cause lasting damage as well as food shortages, but experts said governments in India, China or Bangladesh may be too be proud to ask for international aid.

Countries like India often have vast state resources that dwarf anything Western aid groups or UN agencies can provide.

But some relief organisations are worried those governments would be too embarrassed to be seen begging for help -- even if their resources are inadequate to deal with disasters of a scale like the recent flooding.

"The larger the country, the more reluctant it is to ask for international assistance," said one Asia-based Western aid worker who, like most aid staffers, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of their work.

"India has not, and will not, ask for international assistance even though half of Bihar is under water. China has not and will not."

More than 1,700 Indians, Nepalis and Bangladeshis have been killed by flooding in the last few weeks, with hundreds of thousands left marooned or homeless. Some four million fled their homes after flooding in China, with crops left destroyed.

Western charities have launched appeals for aid but the governments have not asked for it. Ultimately, they often do accept help when it is offered.

When flash flooding ripped through Pakistan's Baluchistan province, the government initially used its own food reserves and stocks before finally accepting an offer from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).