Pakistan indirectly concedes that it sent expired items to Sri Lanka, as embassy deletes post

As Pakistan blamed India for restricting its aid material being sent to Sri Lanka amid Cyclone Ditwah, the embassy in Colombo posted pictures of food grains being delivered. The photos cleared showed the expiry date which read ‘2024’, which means the items sent as relief had expired over a year ago. And now, the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka has deleted the post after facing flak. Deleting the post, clearly shows Islamabad indirectly concedes that it sent expired items to Sri Lanka.

After the consignment arrived, the Pakistani embassy in Colombo posted a picture of the goods transported with the caption: “Relief packages from Pakistan have been successfully delivered to assist our brothers and sisters affected by the recent floods in Sri Lanka, which signifies our unwavering solidarity.” It looks like the act garnered a lot of attention, but for the fact that the products delivered as aid had expired. Either it's a massive oversight by Islamabad, or they assumed this would not get highlighted.

Pakistan cannot even call it propaganda or negative publicity, as the date is clearly visible in the photo that the embassy posted itself. “Pakistan stands with Sri Lanka today and always,” the post added. But this time, Islamabad stood with Colombo with expired products. The latter is busy handling the situation, and no official statement has been released yet. The products packed in 2022 have a shelf life, which is 2024 as printed. Now, as we've entered December 2025, the relief material sent expired over a year ago.

India's response to Pakistan's claims:

Pakistan alleged that India is blocking its humanitarian aid consignment to Sri Lanka as Cyclone Ditwah strikes the island nation, claiming over 400 lives. And in response, India rejected “ridiculous statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We reject the ridiculous statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan which is yet another attempt of spreading anti-India misinformation.”

“The request for overflight clearance for Pakistani aircraft carrying humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka was received by the High Commission of India in Islamabad at around 1300 hrs on December 01, 2025. Given the urgency of humanitarian assistance, the Government of India processed the request expeditiously, the same day and granted the overflight permission as per the itinerary proposed at 1730 hrs on December 01, 2025," the statement added.

What Pakistan said…

India continues to block humanitarian assistance from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. The special aircraft carrying Pakistan’s humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka continues to face delay for over 60 hours now awaiting flight clearance from India. The partial flight clearance issued by India last night, after 48 hours, was operationally impractical: time-bound for just a few hours and without validity for the return flight, severely hindering this urgent relief Mission for the brotherly people of Sri Lanka.