Qureshi holds telephonic conversation with SCO secretary-general

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday held a telephone conversation with the secretary general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Vladimir Norov, and exchanged views on adopting an effective strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and facing the challenges posed by it.
According to Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui, the foreign minister briefed the secretary general on the measures being taken by Pakistan to contain COVID-19.
He said that Pakistan attached high importance to the SCO as its member states comprised more than 40 percent of the world population, and accounted for a quarter of the global GDP.
"At a time when the entire world was facing this challenge, coordinated efforts through the SCO platform were essential to adopt an effective strategy to control the pandemic," Qureshi said.
He 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 learning from the Chinese experience, the foreign minister appreciated the SCO Secretariat's role in disseminating timely information on China's effective response to the pandemic.
The foreign minister also lauded the Russian initiative to hold a video conference of the Experts of Health Ministries of the SCO member states on 1 April 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 the SAARC health ministers to learn from each other's experiences.
Alluding to the adverse socio-economic ramifications of the crisis, Foreign Minister Qureshi highlighted Prime Minister Imran Khan's call for debt relief and restructuring for developing countries and said that he had discussed this issue with other leaders including the secretary general of the UN, the secretary general of the OIC and his counterparts from European countries.
He expressed the hope that the SCO would play an effective role in taking the proposal forward through its own platform.
The SCO secretary general thanked the foreign minister for the call and 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 SCO 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 utilise all possible means to ensure effective use of the SCO in coordinating efforts of the member states to combat the pandemic.
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," the spokesperson added.