Asia | Help not wanted

India’s government turns down disaster relief

But a flood-hit state says it would welcome foreign aid

It could have been a speedboat

THIS week was supposed to be a time for celebration in the Indian state of Kerala, with feasts, dancing and boat races to mark the harvest festival of Onam. But as the waters recede from what may be the state’s worst floods in a century, few are feeling festive. More than a million people were displaced by the downpours. The state government would like to accept foreign aid to help speed reconstruction, but the central authorities are turning it away.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Help not wanted”

Peak Valley: Why startups are going elsewhere

From the September 1st 2018 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Asia

Illustration of national flags, including those of the US, the UK, South Korea, Japan and Australia, tucked into a crisscrossing lattice

Can Donald Trump maintain Joe Biden’s network of Asian alliances?

Discipline and creativity will help, but so will China’s actions

An alleged North Korean soldier after being captured by the Ukrainian army

What North Korea gains by sending troops to fight for Russia

Resources, technology, experience and a blood-soaked IOU


FK Arkadag's Didar Durdyev runs during a Turkmen football championship game

Is Arkadag the world’s greatest football team?

What could possibly explain the success of a club founded by Turkmenistan’s dictator


After the president’s arrest, what next for South Korea?

Some 3,000 police breached his compound. The country is dangerously divided

India’s Faustian pact with Russia is strengthening

The gamble behind $17bn of fresh deals with the Kremlin on oil and arms

AUKUS enters its fifth year. How is the pact faring?

It has weathered two big political changes. What about Donald Trump’s return?