ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood has reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to support the idea of ‘Health Silk Road’ to deepen global cooperation in the Health Sector.
While delivering remarks at a Video-Conference on COVID-19 Response, the foreign secretary underlined that international cooperation and solidarity were pivotal for success in the fight against COVID-19.
The Vice-Ministerial level Conference was chaired by the Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui.
In the Conference, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka participated.
In his remarks at the Conference, the Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood maintained that the COVID-19 pandemic should neither be politicized nor stigmatized.
Noting the importance of multilateralism, he stressed that the World Health Organization (WHO) must play a central role in leading the global fight against the pandemic.
The foreign secretary said that Pakistan has been resolutely and successfully confronting the COVID-19 pandemic and taking all possible measures to strengthen the existing health system.
Sohail Mahmood underscored that the Director General WHO Dr. Tedros Adhanom had acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts in fighting the COVID-19 underlining that Pakistan was one of the Countries to learn from.
Moreover, he emphasized that following its success thus far in controlling the Coronavirus, Pakistan was taking a host of additional public health, economic, and poverty alleviation measures to effectively contain the pandemic.
The foreign secretary noted that despite COVID-19, Pakistan’s economy had shown signs of recovery and resilience with several key economic indicators being very promising.
Sohail Mahmood also hoped that post-COVID-19, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would become the hub of trade and economic activity for the region.
The secretary maintained that both Pakistan and China, complying with strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), were taking effective measures to resume trade, flights, and people-to-people exchanges.
While appreciating that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had resumed a weekly commercial flight to China, the foreign secretary hoped that Pakistani students will soon start returning to China.
The foreign secretary reiterated that the COVID-19 vaccine, as and when developed, must be declared a “global pubic good” and made available on an equitable basis.
Sohail Mahmood underlined that Pakistan and China’s collaboration in the phase-III clinical trials of the Chinese vaccine in Pakistan was progressing well.
Highlighting the plight of the people in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), accentuated due to the COVID-19, the foreign secretary stressed that the global community must urge India to lift the double lockdown and allow access to international health experts to extend medical help to the besieged Kashmiris.
