–Alvi seeks financial relief for developing countries, condemns Indian brutalities in IOK during NAM moot
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has underlined the need for stronger international cooperation and mobilisation of global resources to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Addressing the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) through video-link on Monday, the president said that the COVID-19 pandemic should be transformed into an opportunity to create more equitable world order through joint efforts.
President Alvi urged the developed countries to extend financial relief to the developing countries to manage the consequences, resulting due to COVID-19 crisis. He asked the global countries to take urgent initiatives for debt relief, discourage intolerance and discrimination, and provide equal health excess to all people.
He said that Pakistan took wide-ranging measures under robust institutional mechanism to mitigate adverse impacts of coronavirus. He added that Prime Minister Imran Khan announced massive relief package worth $8 billion for the deserving families affected by the coronavirus.
Condemning a recent series of attacks against Muslims across India, President Alvi said that Muslims are being targeted in garb of COVID-19 in the country. He said that Muslim minority is deliberately targeted and blamed for spreading the novel coronavirus in India.
Expressing concern over Indian brutalities and atrocities in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), the president said that people of Kashmir have been made to suffer under a political lockdown imposed by India in August last year. He said that the situation in IOK has become more aggravated in the wake of pandemic, where Kashmiris continue to be denied high speed internet, and access to the medical and other supplies.
He said that that while the world’s attention is focused on fighting the COVID-19, opportunistic moves were made to alter the demographic structure of occupied territory in complete violation of international laws and relevant United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) resolutions.
The president said that it is unfortunate that India created a war-like situation during the pandemic by resorting to unprovoked heavy shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) which resulted in the deaths of many civilians.
