Pakistan has hinted towards working with India to battle COVID-19.
Foreign Office spokesperson, Aisha Farooqui, responded to a press conference question regarding Pakistan considering working with the likes of India and Iran to fight against the Coronavirus. She said that the “Government of Pakistan is monitoring the situation very closely and will take measures required for the citizens within Pakistan and any assistance we can provide to our neighboring countries.”
Pakistan and India have had tense relations ever since the back-and-forth airstrikes that took place last year. Corroboration with India hasn’t been considered a plausible option since then and the whole Kashmir debacle didn’t make these ties any easier. Desperate times, however, call for desperate measures.
With the whole world rising up in panic and the street of many countries being left deserted, the Coronavirus, although not as deadly as some people have made it out to be, still poses a serious threat to many. The Government of Pakistan, it seems, considers this threat as the serious issue that it is and is willing to put aside any differences and work with India in any way helpful.
“It is the primary responsibility of those countries to take appropriate measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Pakistan is also taking all the requisite steps at our borders and airports to ensure the safety of our people and control the spread of Coronavirus,” Aisha Farooqui mentioned. She also denied any rumors about Pakistan closing down their consular section and consulate in Herat because of the virus outbreak. She clarified that the consulates of Herat and Kabul have been closed down for fifteen days because of administrative reasons.
