ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, during a phone call with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, pledged to extend Islamabad’s full support to Riyadh as the two nations fight the deadly coronavirus outbreak, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement released on Wednesday.
“The two foreign ministers underscored the importance of collaborative endeavours to deal with the situation and agreed to stay closely engaged,” excerpts from the statement read.
Expressing sincere condolences on the loss of lives caused by the virus, FM Qureshi commended the steps initiated by the Kingdom to stem the outbreak and briefed Prince Farhan on the measures taken by Pakistan for the same.
During the conversation, Qureshi also felicitated his Saudi counterpart for successfully convening the virtual G-20 Leaders’ Summit, adding that the Saudi leadership was crucial for forging a coordinated and coherent global response to the crisis.
“The foreign minister highlighted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for debt relief and restructuring for developing states, to enable them to free up resources to combat the disease, save precious lives, and shore up economies,” the statement added.
Prince Farhan, for his part, said that several measures, including the proposal for debt re-structuring, were brought up for discussion during the summit to tackle the economic impact of the virus.
FM Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the recent missile attacks against Riyadh and Jazan, noting that the timely action of the Saudi Defense Forces had helped save several lives.
“He also reaffirmed Pakistan’s full solidarity with the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia and support for the security and territorial integrity of KSA,” the statement read.
Prince Farhan thanked Qureshi for Pakistan’s principled stance on the missile attacks and highlighted the steps taken by the Kingdom to counter the coronavirus outbreak.
According to the latest tally from both the countries, ten people have died from coronavirus in Saudi thus far, with 26 deaths reported in Pakistan which has crossed the 2,000 mark for the total number of confirmed cases in the country.
