Islamabad stands with Beijing in battle against coronavirus: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday assured his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Pakistani people “stand firmly with their Chinese brothers” and will provide full assistance as Beijing tackles the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.During a telephonic conversation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Qureshi that Pakistan’s offer for help and support to China in this difficult time once again highlighted the deep friendship between the two neighbours.

Wang noted that Pakistan had nearly a thousand citizens in Wuhan, and also thanked the Pakistani government for trusting the Chinese government and deciding not to rush them out of the country.

In the same phone call, Wang noted that a certain country has turned a blind eye to the recommendations put forward by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and “imposed sweeping travel restrictions against China”. “This kind of overreaction can only make things even worse. It’s not the right way to deal with the pandemic,” Wang told Qureshi. The Chinese foreign minister also assured him that Beijing will continue to safeguard the safety and health of Pakistanis and provide them with all necessary assistance. Wang Yi remarked that both China and Pakistan were close neighbours and had a fine tradition of helping each other. He stated that under President Xi Jinping’s personal deployment, China had established a nationwide mechanism and taken decisivemeasures to prevent and control the epidemic. “At present, all work is progressing in an orderly manner, and China is fully capable and confident in achieving its final victory,” he added. In their phone call, Qureshi told Wang that he was confident that China will “surely win” the battle against the coronavirus outbreak under President Xi Jinping’s leadership. Qureshi in the conversation also told Wang that Pakistan was willing to provide China with all help in fighting the epidemic and added, “The Pakistani side will send military supplies to China in the near future.” “The international community generally appreciates China’s timely and effective measures to deal with the epidemic, but there are also some forces trying to take the opportunity to create panic, and Pakistan firmly opposes this,” assured Qureshi. The phone call between the two leaders came at a time when China faces deepening isolation over its coronavirus epidemic with the United States leading a growing list of nations to impose extraordinary Chinese travel bans.