Pakistan on Sunday raised the matter of Jammu and Kashmir during a video conference of member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the region, PTI reported. The conference was held on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suggestion.
Pakistan’s State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza called for the immediate removal of restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the Union Territory. Two people have so far been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the region.
India had on August 5 last year revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories. The region was also placed under a lockdown, which was slowly eased in the following months.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina participated in the conference. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan did not participate, but instead sent Mirza, his special assistant on health.
“Equity in health is a fundamental principle of public health,” Mirza said. “In this regard, let me say that it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported from Jammu and Kashmir and in view of the health emergency, it is imperative that all lockdown there must be lifted immediately.”
Mirza said that opening communication lines and allowing movement of people would facilitate dissemination of information, allow distribution of medical supplies and containment of the disease.
Unidentified officials in the Indian government told PTI that Pakistan’s decision to raise the Kashmir matter in a discussion on a humanitarian crisis was unwarranted and “reflected very poorly” on the country.
Modi had asked leaders at the conference not to panic, and suggested that a COVID-19 emergency fund for SAARC countries be set up. Modi had said India was prepared to initially allot $10 million to the corpus.
Over 6,000 people have been killed globally and 1.6 lakh infected so far by the COVID-19 virus.
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