BEIJING: The China-South Asia Emergency Supplies Reserve for jointly combating the COVID-19 pandemic was officially launched at Chengdu International Railway Port in Sichuan province of China.
The event was attended by Wu Jianghao, Assistant Foreign Minister of China, Li Yunze, Vice Governor of Sichuan Province and other high ranking officials of Sichuan province. Ambassadors of five participating South Asian countries to China including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also attended the event.
The idea to establish China-South Asia Emergency Supplies Reserve was agreed at the meeting of Foreign Ministers of China and five South Asian countries virtually held on 27 April 2021.
It is aimed at experience sharing and devising a common strategy by China and South Asian countries for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his speech, Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao said that China had played a leading role in the global campaign for combating the COIVD-19 pandemic.
He highlighted that China-South Asia Emergency Supplies Reserve would be helpful in expanding China’s cooperation with South Asian nations for comprehensively defeating the pandemic including the development and distribution of vaccines to the region.
Sharing his views, Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque hailed the establishment of emergency reserve as an important step for jointly combating the pandemic.He underscored that international cooperation was inevitable for countering the translational issues like COVID-19.
Thanking China for its support to Pakistan after the outbreak of pandemic, the Ambassador added that Pakistan was continuing its vaccination campaign with Chinese assistance and looked forward to working with the South Asian countries and China for deepening ties in emergency cooperation. – Agencies
