SARWAR AWAN \ISLAMABAD Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday held a telephonic conversation with the Secretary General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Vladimir Norov, and said that at a time when the entire World was facing Corona virus challenge, coordinated efforts through SCO platform were essential to adopt an effective strategy to control the pandemic. Both leaders exchanged views on adopting an effective strategy to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and facing the challenges posed by it. The Foreign Minister briefed the Secretary General on the measures being taken by Pakistan to contain the virus. He said that Pakistan attached high importance to SCO as its member states comprised more than 40% of the world population and accounted for a quarter of global GDP. The Foreign Minister said that China was providing valuable support to Pakistan in dealing with the pandemic. Underlining that China had led the way in effective containment, and a lot could be gained from the Chinese experience, the Minister appreciated SCO Secretariat’s role in disseminating timely information on China’s effective response to the pandemic. Qureshi also lauded the Russian initiative to hold a video conference of the experts of health ministries of SCO member states on April 1, 2020. In addition to coordination and collaboration in relief and containment efforts, Qureshi called for pooling of region-wide research capabilities to combat the disease. He informed the SCO Secretary General that in order to strengthen regional cooperation in South Asia in the wake of the pandemic, Pakistan had proposed a video conference of SAARC Health Ministers to learn from each other’s experiences. He expressed the hope that SCO will play an effective role in taking the proposal forward through its own platform. The SCO Secretary General thanked the Foreign Minister for the call. He expressed appreciation for the Prime Minister’s proposal for debt relief and restructuring for developing countries and said that financial support for developing countries was the need of the hour. The Secretary General conveyed his best wishes to the Government and people of Pakistan in successfully facing the challenge posed by the pandemic and reiterated his resolve to utilize all possible means to ensure effective use of SCO in coordinating efforts of member states to combat the Covid-19. The Foreign Minister invited the SCO Secretary General to visit Pakistan as soon as the situation permitted. The SCO Secretary General accepted the invitation with gratitude.
