President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has underlined curbing the global threat of COVID-19 will only be successful with the cooperate efforts of all countries alike. The president made the remarks in a video conference with SAARC Leaders, to discuss the South Asian Regional response to contain the COVID 19 pandemic.
President Solih joined in from the President's Office in the video call which occurred at the initiative of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. Also participating were President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Nepal Sharma Oli, Prime Minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering, and Pakistan's Minister of State for Health Dr. Zafar Mirza.
The participants took turns sharing their country's particular concerns relevant to the rapid and global spread of Covid19 which the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global health pandemic on March 11. There are currently over 150,000 cases and 129 countries affected by the pandemic. So far over 100 cases have been detected across South Asia.
During the timely meeting, which was convened to enhance and better coordinate regional efforts to contain the virus, President Solih reiterated this is a cross-border issue that requires global cooperation. The president emphasised Maldives had been proactive in taking measures to contain the virus from January onwards, well in advance of the first COVID-19 related case manifesting in the Maldives on March 7. He also highlighted the necessary precautions and restrictions that have limited travel to the country has had significant consequences on the country's tourism industry, which through direct and indirect contributions accounts for two-thirds of the country's GDP, adding measures will be needed to mitigate the impact on country's economy.
The other SAARC leaders also outlined similar concerns, pertinent to controlling the flow of potentially infected people into their countries, ensuring that their health care system can handle the burgeoning amount of cases and that their most vulnerable population are adequately attended to and finally that there are concerted regional efforts to address the pandemic.
Prime Minister Modi proposed the creation of a designated COVID-19 fund to which SAARC member states can contribute and to which India will make an initial contribution of 10 million US dollars. Prime Minister Modi also proposed the need for a regional relief package to stimulate South Asian economies and to further discuss on devising a long-term recovery strategy.
President Solih and the other leaders present welcomed these suggestions. In their concluding statements, all the participating leaders and health experts reiterated the need for the entire region to collaborate in meeting the challenge posed by this global pandemic, by scaling up health cooperation and collective efforts to capacity build in this area, by sharing medicine, equipment and human resources.