China backs Pakistan’s call for global debt relief initiative

Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that his country will support Prime Minister Imran Khan’s global initiative at the G-20 as well as other relevant fora as Pakistan continued its diplomatic outreach to powerful countries which can play a role in much-needed debt relief while battling the novel coronavirus.

According to an official statement, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday held a telephonic conversation with Wang Yi to seek China’s support for the premier’s recently launched “global initiative for debt relief”.

The impact on the developing countries would be most severe in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. Keeping this in view, Prime Minister Imran Khan a few days ago had appealed to the world community to work for providing debt relief to the developing countries.
Chinese Foreign Minister thanked Qureshi for reaching out to China and appreciated Pakistan’s thoughtful and timely gesture.

The state councillor underlined that the global pandemic posed a great danger to the world’s economy and stability as “coordinated and equitable efforts are needed to deal with its aftermath”.

Wang Yi said that during President Dr Arif Alvi’s recent visit to China, Pakistani and Chinese leaders had reached a consensus to jointly fight the outbreak.

“Beijing was thankful to Pakistan for the support it extended to China in battling Covid-19 and now Chinese people and government were extending support to Pakistan to help it contain the pandemic.”

FM Qureshi said that the highly contagious disease has a devastating impact on the global economy and its aftermath is far more severe than the Great Depression.

The conversation with the Chinese foreign minister was part of Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach to powerful countries which can play a role in debt relief.

The country’s total external debt stands around $105 billion. Officials say Pakistan is seeking a role over of half of its $28 billion external debt that is maturing in next three years.

Pakistan was given major debt relief in 2001 when western countries including the United States suspended around $11 billion debt for 15 years. That decision was meant to acknowledge Pakistan’s role in the fight against terror after 9/11 attacks.

This time if any decision regarding debt relief is taken that would not be country-specific.

The foreign minister underscored that Pakistan and China are “all-weather strategic cooperative partners” and have preserved the fine tradition of solidarity, mutual assistance and mutual support.

He thanked the government and people of China for extending solidarity and moral and material support to Pakistan in the wake of the outbreak of contagion.

Qureshi also said that generous donations and assistance sent by China, for Pakistan, to contain coronavirus were greatly appreciated by Pakistan and its people.

He expressed delight that lockdown from Wuhan had been lifted and normalcy resumed in Wuhan and Hubei province. The foreign minister also thanked China for sending a team of medical experts to Pakistan to help fight the pandemic.

The Chinese medical team, he added, had strengthened Pakistan’s capacity to control Covid-19 through sharing their experience and “expertise with our medical community”.

BEIJING: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s appeal for a debt relief initiative for highly indebted developing nations served as a rallying call for the world to unite in pursuit of mitigating negative impact of the Covid-19 crisis, China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported on Wednesday.

In a video message posted on Twitter over the weekend Imran appealed to the international community to launch a debt relief initiative in order to help the developing countries prevent negative impact on their people as a subsequent humanitarian consequence of the pandemic.

The Chinese media noted that there was a precarious situation in the South Asian region, not just in Pakistan, but also in India and Bangladesh as well and in other developing countries elsewhere in the world.

These people obviously need food, but regrettably aren’t able to afford. Their governments, struggling with heavy debt, might find it difficult to assist everyone on the scale that’s required. “Therein lies the significance of PM Imran Khan’s appeal to the international community,” added the report.

Pakistan Ambassador to China, Naghmana Hashmi, said in an interview with China.org.cn on Wednesday the international financial institutions, with coordination of developed countries, needed to offer emergency grant and soft-loans to shield the developing country from the ensuing economic crisis.

“The current situation [virus-induced shut down of economic activities], therefore, calls for a greater international coordination and cooperation among the global community for curbing and comprehensively eliminating this menace,” Ambassador Hashmi said.

“Perhaps, this crisis, colossal as it may be, reaffirms our resolve in multilateralism and bestow world leaders with clarity and courage to shun isolationism for good, and renew faith in joint efforts for a shared and prosperous future for all,” she added.

“This crisis should be a moment of reflection for us to revisit and review our previous concepts about issues of transnational health, environment, and economics and reform them in the light of emergent realities for benefit of the entire humanity.”

Hashmi said that China’s success against the virus served as a source of inspiration and hope for all countries battling Covid-19. “China has emerged as the only country in the world to have curbed this disease in an effective manner,” she said.