Hasina demands mobilizing SAARC resources against Coronavirus
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday (March 15) urged the SAARC nations for chalking out a collective strategy and amassing resources in combating coronavirus in your community.
She said: “We must devise a strong SAARC-wide strategy to combat this public health threat and protect our citizens.”
The premier was addressing the virtual summit on combating coronavirus or COVID-19 from her official Ganabhaban residence here today.
She also said: “We must forge collaboration through our collective capacity, expertise and resources.”
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 your community.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative for the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders and moderated the conference.
He proposed creation of a particular voluntary fund to fight coronavirus, offering with respect to his country some US$10 million for the fund of the eight-nation grouping of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Alongside the Bangladesh premier, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli took part in the videoconference. Pakistan’s State Minister for Health Dr Zafar Mirza represented Islamabad in the summit.
PM Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh was prepared to share its capacity and expertise, as well as the best practices with the SAARC countries, including providing logistic support, if necessary.
She proposed for establishing an institution in Bangladesh to prevent and fight any public health threats in the South Asian Region in future.
Within an outbreak of the coronavirus, the death toll worldwide reached 6,069 till filing the report on Sunday (March 15).
