South Asia to join hands in fighting coronavirus

KATHMANDU, Nepal

South Asian countries on Sunday pledged to collaborate in stemming the spread of coronavirus which has claimed thousands of lives globally.

The leaders and representatives from India, Pakistan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan attended the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting via video conference.

In his opening speech, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called the conference, said the densely populated region faced "significant challenges in terms of access to healthcare facilities”.

"We were careful to not underestimate the problem, but also to avoid knee-jerk reactions. We have tried to take proactive steps, including a graded response mechanism," he said.

Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, currently the chair of SAARC, shared his country's plans in combating the spread of the virus.
"We're strengthening our quarantine facilities. We're also enhancing the capacity of our health workers," he told the conference.

The conference also approved Modi's proposal to set up a COVID-19 Emergency Fund, with an initial contribution of $10 million from India.

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani proposed a common framework for telemedicine to combat coronavirus. “The closing of borders will result in a significant problem of availability of food, medicines and basic goods," he warned.

Ghani called for formulating a six-month strategy to address the long-term economic as well as social impacts besides the health concerns caused by the pandemic.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured of her country's support, saying, “It is very important to work together to address this challenge. The whole world is now worried about this new virus."

Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lotay Tshering shared his country's experience of dealing with a case in which an American tourist had been infected with the virus during a trip to Bhutan.

"We must be sure that we will share our resources and technologies [in fighting the disease]," Tshering said.

"We must have similar cooperation on the economic side of the issue because smaller and vulnerable economies are likely to suffer more," he added.

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also spoke about his country's preparations to combat the virus during the conference.

For his part, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said: "It requires coordinated efforts to defeat COVID-19."

Zafar Mirza, the Pakistani state minister for health, spoke about the significance of a regional forum such as SAARC to stem the outbreak. "While hoping for the best, we have to prepare for the worst," he told the virtual gathering.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the virus known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 141 countries and territories.

The global death toll from the virus has surpassed 5,700, with more than 152,000 cases confirmed worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

* Ahmad Adil contributed to this report from Chandigarh, Shadi Saif from Kabul, Islamuddin Sajid from Islamabad and Kamruz Zaman from Dhaka