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NEW DELHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Putting at rest raging speculation, the Centre finally announced late Wednesday evening that India would not take aid from foreign governments for Kerala flood relief .In a statement, the MEA spokesperson said, while India appreciated the offers of help from different countries, "in line with the existing policy, the government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts."Quoting high-level sources, TOI had reported on Wednesday that India would not accept help offered by foreign governments.The announcement came hours after Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that his government will officially try to remove "impediments" , if any, in receiving the Rs 700-crore financial assistance offered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for flood relief."If there is such a problem, the state government would try to resolve it at the official level. If need be, we will take up the matter with PM Narendra Modi," said the chief minister.Vijayan pointed out that immediately after the help offer from UAE, the PM himself had welcomed it with a tweet. "It's natural for countries to help each other during a crisis. It happens everywhere. The national disaster management policy announced by the Centre in May 2016 has clearly stated that accepting voluntary contribution from foreign countries during a crisis is permissible," he said.Over the past couple of days there has been huge speculation about whether India would accept aid from foreign governments, particularly after the UAE prime minister announced Rs 700 crore in aid for Kerala. Qatar, Maldives and Thailand had also expressed a desire to assist the relief and rehabilitation efforts in Kerala. But it has been India's policy since the tsunami of 2004 to use domestic funds to rebuild after natural disasters.However, the MEA spokesperson clarified, "Contributions to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and the Chief Minister's Relief Fund from NRIs, PIOs and international entities such as foundations would, however, be welcome."The Kerala CM, however, said the state government wholeheartedly welcomes all contributions from any part of the world. "Those who love the land should actually encourage and attract such help from people across the world. When the whole world is smothering us with love and care, we should be able to stand up together and receive it with grace. With such love and dedication, we would certainly survive the calamity," he added.The chief minister also expressed the state's gratitude to Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli who dedicated the team's victory in the third Test against England to flood-hit people in Kerala.