The government “can consider import” of vegetables and other foodstuffs from India to offer relief to people after the devastation done to Pakistan’s crops, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said.

Food and vegetable prices in the country have skyrocketed after crops on thousands of hectares of land were lost in recent weeks.

An initial accounting of the damage has been estimated at around $10 billion, the minister said.

The flooding from the highest rainfall in more than three decades has killed 1,061 people since mid-June and affected more than 33 million, mostly in the impoverished south and south-west of the country.

Rescuers are still busy evacuating the stranded and tens of thousands are in need of food and shelter.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited flood-hit areas on Monday.

Pakistan-India relations fell to a new low after New Delhi revoked a special autonomous status for the part of Kashmir under its control in 2019.

Islamabad downgraded diplomatic ties, suspended bilateral trade and halted cross-border transportation. However, the government allowed the import of pharmaceutical products from India after the Covid-19 pandemic erupted.

In March of last year, former premier Imran Khan’s government announced the resumption of trade with India but the decision was rescinded the next day.