BSS-47 Sharing India’s experiences to combat the spread of the COVID-19, Modi said: “prepare but do not panic” has been India’s guiding mantra.

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CORONA-SAARC-FUND-TWO LAST DHAKA

Sharing India’s experiences to combat the spread of the COVID-19, Modi
said: “prepare but do not panic” has been India’s guiding mantra.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for a strong
collaboration among SAARC nations in devising a collective strategy and
mobilising resources to combat coronavirus as she joined the videoconference
with her counterparts and leaders in the region.

“We need to devise a strong SAARC-wide strategy to combat this public
health threat and to protect our citizens,” she said.

The Bangladesh premier added: “We need to forge collaboration through our
collective capacity, expertise and resources.”

“The whole world is suffering . . . I think for the first time it is
happening,” Sheikh Hasina said referring to the gravity of the crisis.

She suggested that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) secretariat could coordinate the regional collaboration on the
coronavirus for the safety and security of the people in the region.

Apart from Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih,
Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering,
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime
Minister on Health Zafar Mirza participated in the video conference.

Participating in the videoconference, the SAARC leaders called upon
economists to devise a mechanism to help minimize the impact of coronavirus
on trade and commerce in the region.

During the videoconference, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said
collective efforts will help SAARC nations devise a sound and robust
strategy.

“Our collective wisdom and efforts will help us devise a sound and robust
strategy for the SAARC region as we fight COVID-19,” he said.

Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering described COVID-19 as “unseen
common enemy of all”

“Togetherness is required now. As we cannot see our enemy with our naked
eyes, it is very important to come together and leave our differences,” he
said.

Lotay called upon the SAARC nations to think of long term impact of the
coronavirus.

He said that Bhutan so far detected a single case of coronavirus this
month and handled the situation within a very short time.

Later, the country managed to identify all 40 primary contacts from three
different parts of the country on suspicion, he said.

The Bhutanese premier said they managed to send medical team in the
vulnerable areas while the Bhutanese King himself coordinated the whole thing
carefully to tackle the situation.

In the videoconference Pakistan was represented by Prime Minister’s
special assistant Zafar Mirza who said “prevent, detect, respond and conduct
research along the way has been Pakistan’s approach”.

He said that Pakistan has been alert to the danger and have put in place
required protocols and measures for safety of the nationals.

“We have strongly advised against panic, a calm calculated and deliberate
response is the need of the hour,” he said.

Zafar added that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is personally
overseeing the efforts to mitigate coronavirus.

With over 155,000 infections, 5833 deaths and 138 countries involved, no
nation and no region on earth can afford to be unresponsive, he said.

Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih stressed on taking up coordinated
approach to deal with COVID-19, saying no country can deal with the situation
alone.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajpaksha put emphasis on the need for South
Asia to share ideas and best practices in order to face up to the challenge
of the rapid spread of the virus.

“Our economy has received serious blow, particularly tourism sector which
was just recovering after last years’ terrorist attack. I strongly recommend
SAARC leaders to formulate a mechanism to assist our economies to tide over
difficult period,” he said.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said that they are in an unknown
situation and proposed monitoring the impacts and scenarios saying
assumptions from the US, China and Iran are not suitable.

He further proposed to create common framework for telemedicine for SAARC
nations.

BSS/MKD/SAH/MRI/AHJ/KU/2155 HRS