Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Saturday urged the opposition parties to avoid politics and criticism as it is time to fight together against coronavirus pandemic.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan set up special fund for fight against the pandemic. A huge number of people are donating money as they have confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he told reporters on the occasion of handing over safety kits to Pakistan Medical Association (PMA). “In the past, PM Imran had collected funds for Shaukat Khanam, earthquake, and floods. Opposition should not indulge in undue criticism. It is not time for undue criticism, rather constructiveness,” he said.
Qureshi hailed the matchless services of doctors for fighting on the frontline against pandemic. He remarked that Pakistan Foreign Office Women Association (PFOWA) has donated 1,000 N95 masks, protective kits, gloves, and shields for doctors of Multan.
The minister said that digitalisation process is in progress in Foreign Office and an application has been introduced for 117 missions in various countries to keep in touch round the clock.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan made an appeal to UN and international finance institutions for restructuring of loans of developing countries with an aim to fight the pandemic effectively. He thanked United Nations general secretary for paying heed to Imran Khan’s appeal and extending support towards the cause. “The developing countries are fighting on two fronts: one against COVID-19 and second against hunger. The pandemic has not only affected the developing countries but also the developed countries including US, Italy, Germany, etc. The world should make a joint struggle against the pandemic,” he said.
For the poor, the PTI government has launched Ehsaas Kafalat Programme under which, Rs 144 billion are being distributed among 12 million people transparently, he said, adding that the deserving families are given financial assistance without any political affiliation at 17,000 different centres set up across the country. He said the Ehsaas Kafalat Programme is being hailed internationally as a model programme for assistance of the poor.
The incumbent government has also decided to take strict action against hoarders in order to discourage artificial inflation. The hoarders will be punished under new ordinance, he said. “Similarly, the government is opening different sectors gradually in order to address issue of unemployment and create new economic opportunities,” he said. “The recent reduction in markup will facilitate the business community and thus create more jobs. The single digit mark will help bring in more investment, and the package for construction industry will provide jobs to the labourers,” he said.
He said Foreign Office has received 39,748 applications from stranded Pakistanis from across the world and the government is committed to bring them back. adding that the capacity to bring stranded Pakistanis back has improved from 2,000 persons to 7,000 persons per week.
