Pakistan has landed in a fresh diplomatic embarrassment after Sri Lanka discovered that the relief materials sent by Islamabad, following the devastating floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditva, were largely expired. What Pakistan projected as a gesture of solidarity with its crisis-stricken neighbour has instead resulted in a diplomatic protest, with Colombo stating that such aid amounted to an insult rather than assistance.
What more is expected of a dying economy! 😂 #Pakistani govt sending expired aid ⛑️ to srilanka?
The entire world has to witness it#SriLanka has become a dumping ground for Pakistan?
Proud of #IndianArmy they can fight💪well, they can rescue well #SriLankafloods #CycloneDitwah pic.twitter.com/MX03V13nUV— Chandra Kishore (@kishore_0208) December 2, 2025
Sri Lankan officials found that the medicines, food packets and essential supplies in the Pakistani relief consignment had crossed their expiry dates. After examining the materials, Sri Lanka’s disaster-management and foreign-affairs departments jointly flagged a “serious issue” and formally communicated their displeasure to Islamabad. Authorities in Colombo said the incident had forced them into a position where even the sincerity of Pakistan’s humanitarian outreach had become questionable. Sri Lanka conveyed that sending expired goods at a time when the country was grappling with an unprecedented natural calamity was irresponsible and unacceptable. Officials also said the lapse had compelled them to impose strict scrutiny on all Pakistani consignments in the future. Although labelled as manufactured in 2022, much of the material reportedly carried an expiry date in 2024, raising questions about why Islamabad chose to dispatch unusable goods to a nation in crisis.
This is not the first time Pakistan’s relief efforts have drawn criticism. Islamabad faced similar backlash in 2015 when Nepal objected to receiving food packets containing meat in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake, an insensitive misstep that had sparked outrage at the time. Meanwhile, another claim circulating in Pakistani media, that India denied airspace to Pakistan’s relief aircraft bound for Sri Lanka, has been categorically dismissed as false. Official records show that Pakistan sought clearance on Monday at 1 p.m., and India granted permission the same evening at 5:30 p.m. New Delhi labelled the propaganda as baseless and reaffirmed its own relief commitment: India has already sent 53 tonnes of emergency supplies to Sri Lanka under the ‘Sagar Bandhu’ mission. More than 300 people have died in Sri Lanka alone due to the havoc caused by Cyclone Ditva, which has also battered Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
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