Rapidly taking over the world, the deadly Coronavirus has now been declared ‘pandemic’ by the World Health Organization (WHO). With the number of affectees drastically increasing worldwide, recently, the SAARC nations joined hands to discuss further strategies. Being an integral part of the video conference, Pakistan’s Special Aide to Prime Minister, Dr. Zafar Mirza put his opinions forward.
Pakistan tells India to end lockdown in Kashmir to fight Coronavirus!
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) includes a total of eight countries that lie in the region. However, the chaotic situation last week even led to Azaan in Kuwait asking Muslims to pray at home due to the fatal Coronavirus (COVID-19). Well, last Sunday, Pakistan’s Dr. Zafar Mirza told India to end the lockdown in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) during a SAARC video conference on Coronavirus.
World News Pakistan
Aiming to protect the world, Dr. Zafar Mirza, stated, ”In view of the health emergency, it is imperative that all the restrictions in the disputed territory [Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)] must be lifted immediately, opening up communication and movement would facilitate dissemination of information, allow distribution of medical supplies and enable containment and relief efforts to proceed unimpeded”.
”A calm, calculated, and deliberate response is need of the hour to fight coronavirus!”
Looking over to the rising tally of Coronavirus victims, Mirza emphasized that the drastic increase in numbers needs to be controlled. ”A calm, calculated, and deliberate response is need of the hour to fight coronavirus. Pakistan would like to reiterate its earlier proposal of hosting the SAARC health ministers’ conference at an appropriate time”, he added.
Financial Times
Moreover, Dr. Mirza expressed, ”The regional countries should reach out to specialized development partners including WHO for mobilization for technical advice and resources. The pandemic forces us to think not in terms of nations and states, but as a collective. The unprecedented challenge, therefore, warrants unprecedented responses. We [world] must recognize that the national and local responses remain the most critically important”.
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Hailing Pakistan’s efforts in this crucial time, Dr. Zafar Mirza said, ”Pakistan’s proactive strategy and containment efforts got recognition and appreciation by the World Health Organisation (WHO)”. He then concluded, ”We [Pakistan] have decided to close all our educational institutions for three weeks, entire western border for two weeks, restrict international flights to three airports only and ban all large public gatherings, reinforced screening measures at the airports and at the ground processing”.
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