News Desk
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has said that Covid19 vaccine should be a “global public good”, affordable and accessible to all. He called for global coordinated efforts to combat adverse impacts of Corona pandemic and to fight with its emerging second wave.
According to media reports, the Prime Minister has expressed these views while speaking at the virtual meeting of Council of Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organization through video link on Tuesday). He also proposed creation of SCO knowledge-bank of best practices to fight Covid19 in order to guide the member states through the second wave and beyond.
Imran Khan has emphasized on working out a strategy and an action plan to mitigate the adverse economic impact of the pandemic in the short, medium and long-term. He said we should call for more measures by G-20 countries to meet common challenges like the climate change, deteriorating environment, widening inequality within and among nations, disease, hunger, poverty and sustainable development.
The Premier said this should include measures to stop financial outflows from developing countries to off-shore bank accounts in rich countries. He also suggested formulating a multi-year SCO Youth Strategy with a focus on building partnerships among educational institutions. We should develop SCO partnership for technology, offering scholarships and exchange programmes for youth in the scientific field, he said.
“China and Pakistan are also collaborating in vaccine development, with phase three trials successfully underway. Pakistan is open to sharing its own experience in effectively combating the pandemic and keeping the total cases and fatalities relatively low through calibrated policy of ‘smart lockdowns’ and financial support to the most vulnerable segments of society and stabilize economy,” he added.
PM Imran Khan also talked about creating an environment of stability and cooperation in the region. He stressed the need to implementing UN Security Council Resolutions for peaceful resolution of outstanding disputes. He said unilateral and illegal measures to change the status of disputed territories in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions adversely affect the regional environment.
“As a shared responsibility, Pakistan has steadfastly supported the Afghan-led and the Afghan-owned peace process as there is no military solution to Afghanistan conflict,” he said, adding that return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honour should be an essential part of the peace negotiations.
