ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid on Sunday said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had cancelled important engagements and would visit Tharparkar on Monday to meet drought-affected people.

Talking to news channels, he said Thar was part of the country and the federal government considered it an utmost duty to provide relief and rescue for the people of the area.

He said National Disaster Management Authority and Pakistan Army were already providing assistance to the affected people.

He said the prime minister took immediate notice when the tragedy came to the fore.

To a question, the minister said the federal government would assist the Sindh government and would not do politics on the issue.

The Sindh government had on Friday ordered a probe into the death of 41 children who reportedly died of pneumonia and malnutrition in a stretch of the Thar desert.

The Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah had ordered the arrest of senior health officials for neglecting their duties, saying they had failed to move the children to hospitals in the bigger cities.

After reports of the incident first came to view, the prime minister had directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to immediately get in touch with authorities in Sindh and provide all possible aid and assistance.