Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said the coronavirus pandemic is the gravest challenge of the century and requires collaborative steps among nations to effectively counter it.
He was talking to his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on telephone to discuss Covid-19 pandemic situation and its aftermath. Foreign Minister thanked Japan for assisting Pakistan to combat the pandemic as well as in dealing with the desert locust attack. He emphasised the need for urgent economic relief for poor countries dealing with this century’s gravest challenge to humanity. The two ministers exchanged views on the socioeconomic ramifications of the pandemic.
Qureshi briefed Foreign Minister Motegi about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’ for developing countries. The Foreign Minister underscored that without immediate, coordinated and comprehensive actions to create fiscal space, the developing world may have to contend with dire social, political and economic consequences.
About the situation in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Qureshi said the human rights violations are continuing unabated and concerns have intensified about spread of the infection due to restrictions on information dissemination and unfettered access to medical and other essential supplies. Both foreign ministers expressed commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations.
Comment:a good step taken by FM