ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and South Korea have agreed that the pandemic necessitated closer international cooperation and they should stay engaged on the issue and other matters of mutual interest as well.
This understanding was reached during a telephonic conversation between Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his South Korean Counterpart Kang Kyung-wha on Friday.
Foreign Minister Qureshi commended the South Korean government for its effective response against Covid-19 that had been widely acknowledged by the international community.
The foreign minister also highlighted concerns relating to on-going restrictions in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K), which were hampering the dissemination of information and preventing unfettered supply of medicines and other essentials needed to combat the pathogen.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that overseas Pakistanis who have always significantly contributed to the national economy will not be left alone in this difficult hour.
In a statement on Friday, the foreign minister said the lockdown and closure of businesses in Gulf countries in the wake of coronavirus has rendered many of overseas Pakistanis without livelihood.
He said the government is fully cognizant of the problems of overseas Pakistanis including those stranded in different countries. He said the Prime Minister has constituted under him a committee which has framed recommendations to ensure an organized and careful repatriation of these Pakistanis.
The foreign minister that sixteen hundred stranded Pakistanis have been brought back whilst thirty six thousand to forty thousand are still awaiting the return to the homeland.
He said Pakistan missions and consulates abroad are extending every possible assistance to the stranded Pakistanis. He said all resources are being used to provide them accommodation, food and meet their other needs. – TLTP
Pakistan, South Korea agree to stay engaged on virus: FM Qureshi
