Pakistan lauds China’s support to cope with coronavirus

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has deeply appreciated the help and support being extended by China to cope with coronavirus.

In her opening statement at the weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said our collective efforts to fight this pandemic is once again a testimony to our all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

Giving details of the Chinese support, the spokesperson said China has provided four million dollars for the establishment of a separate hospital for coronavirus patients.

She said another flight reached Islamabad this morning from Beijing which brought relief assistance of almost three million dollars from various Chinese organizations. The relief assistance included protective equipment, ventilators, face masks and testing kits.

The spokesperson said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for debt relief for the developing countries has resonated globally.

She pointed out that the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers’ Video conference, IMF, the World Bank and the G-20 Summit have discussed the issue of support for the fragile countries.  She said Pakistan welcomes these endorsements as a step in the right direction and hoped they will culminate in concrete steps at the earliest.

The spokesperson said the government has so far repatriated the stranded nationals from Qatar, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. She said plans for repatriation from Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Tashkent, Baku, Baghdad, London and Toronto have also been finalized.

Aisha Farooqui once again urged the Indian government to lift restrictions in occupied Jammu and Kashmir saying these can be deadly during a health crisis such as COVID-19 pandemic.