The UAE government has said that it never offered a specific Rs 700 crore as aid. (Photo: AP)

Has the United Arab Emirates (UAE) offered Rs 700 crore in aid for Kerala flood relief? Well, the Kerala government has -- indirectly as well as directly -- said so.

The Kerala chief minister said that Rs 700 crore was offered by the UAE and the state's finance minister Thomas Issac criticised the central government for not accepting aid from foreign countries.

Now, however, the UAE government has said that it never offered a specific Rs 700 crore as aid. UAE said that it is willing to offer assistance and that it has set up an emergency committee to assess the situation in Kerala.

The UAE will decide on how much money it will offer as aid only after the committee's assessment. The amount of money has not been decided yet.

Reports about the UAE offering Rs 700 crore as aid appeared after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted about the Arab nation offering assistance. Vijayan tweeted on August 21 that Kerala was grateful to the UAE for offering aid to the tune of Rs 700 crore.

CM Pinarayi Vijayan informed that the United Arab Emirates will provide Kerala an assistance of ?700 Crore. Kerala has a special relationship with UAE, which is a home away from home for Malayalees. We express our gratitude to UAE for their support. #KeralaFloodRelief pic.twitter.com/yfwbt9iEkd CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 21, 2018

However, there was a catch.

In a series of tweets following the above post, Vijayan revealed that his information was not first hand.

Vijayan said that the UAE had told an Indian-origin businessman about its offer of assistance. The offer was conveyed to Yusuff Ali MA the managing director of Lulu Hypermarket, the largest retail chain in the Middle East. Ali is from Kerala and now lives in the Gulf.

READ| Will discuss India declining foreign aid for Kerala floods with Centre: CM Pinarayi Vijayan

In a series of tweets, Vijayan also said that Prime Minister Modi too was told about the Rs 700-crore aid offer by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

As the reports of the UAE's largesse gathered steam, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre came under criticism for giving less aid money (Rs 600 crore) to Kerala than what the Gulf nation.

Meanwhile, the Indian government said that it would not be accepting aid from foreign nations as part of a long-standing policy of relying on domestic capabilities during times of calamities.

READ| Kerala floods: Why India is not accepting foreign funds

Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac also hit out at the Modi government on the issue.

We asked Union Gov for financial support of ?2200 Cr ; they grant us a precious ?600 Cr . We make no request to any foreign gov but UAE gov voluntarily offer ?700cr. No, says Union gov , it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy. Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 22, 2018

Backing the Kerala government over foreign aid for Kerala flood relief, BJP minister KJ Alphons also requested the government to make a "one-time exception". It was unclear from his statement if the amount under consideration was Rs 700 crore.

However, with the UAE government's clarification that it has not yet decided on the amount of money it will offer as aid, the question of considering accepting Rs 700 crore does not arise. At least for now.

More than 300 people have died in due to heavy rain and flooding in Kerala. While floodwaters are now receding, the state is gearing up to face the monumental challenge of rehabilitating lakhs of people who have been displaced by the floods.

The Kerala floods have also caused massive destruction in the state with top business body Assocham estimating that the damage caused by the floods was worth Rs 20,000 crore.

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