COVID-19 pandemic: Qureshi for joint strategy of OIC states

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday called for a joint strategy of the OIC countries to combat COVID-19 pandemic and protect the people from the virus.
Qureshi stated this during his telephonic conversation with Secretary General OIC DrYousef bin Ahmad bin Al- Othaimeen on Monday, in which the duo discussed the steps that need to be taken jointly to prevent the spread of the virus, the Foreign Office said.
Qureshi also welcomed the OIC secretary-general&39;s recent statement regarding the finding of a solution to this pandemic challenge by research institutions and scientists.
It stated that they also discussed the critical situation in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir in the context of the global challenge of COVID-19.
Qureshi informed the OIC secretary general about the critical situation in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and said that the continuous curfew in the occupied valley for the past eight months has caused severe shortages of medicines and food.
He said that eight million Kashmiris were waiting for the attention of the international community, especially the Muslim Ummah, for freedom from the Indian occupation.
The foreign minister also thanked the OIC secretary general for sending his representative to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that special representative for the secretary-general OIC also met with the Hurriyat leaders, besides holding meeting with Pakistani leadership.
Qureshi also told the OIC secretary general that in the face of this global pandemic challenge, developing countries with low resources were facing severe economic hardship, and Prime Minister Imran Khan had also proposed to restructure the debt of developing countries, so that they could use their resources to prevent the spread of the pandemic and save precious human lives.
The OIC secretary general told Foreign Minister Qureshi that Islamic Development Bankwas taking steps to finance the OIC to deal with the global pandemic of coronavirus. The two leaders decided to continue consultation to tackle the global challenge andpromote mutual cooperation.