COVID-19: Online Summit Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group

Lahore, 4th May: A statement to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the Honorable Heads of Member and Observer States, Excellencies, Ladies, and Gentlemen has been released by the Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group in which they have thanked President Aliyev and the Government of Azerbaijan for their timely initiative.

I would like to express our full solidarity with the people of NAM Member States in the fight against COVID-19. I will also like to avail of this opportunity to convey sincere condolences to those who have lost their loved ones and pray for a quick recovery for those affected by the virus.

The impact of COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our global system and the enormity of the challenges we face.

Around half of the world population, about 3.5 billion, is in lockdown and there is no end in sight. Tens of millions of people have lost jobs across the globe and the count is increasing. Lives have been disrupted and people have been deprived of their livelihoods.

Countless families across the globe are struggling to remain safe, secure health attention, and even more, avoid death from hunger. Global supply chains are breaking down. Factories, Restaurants, shops, small businesses, and hotels have laid-off workers. A global recession is surely underway as the world GDP is projected to decline by at least 10%.

The crisis triggered by the pandemic is also a stark reminder that no country can overcome such threats alone. A “global” challenge requires a “global” response, which is firmly rooted in solidarity, international cooperation, and respect for multilateralism.

The Bandung principles remain relevant today in the face of evolving challenges. These principles, grounded in friendly cooperation and respect for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, offer opportunities to address contemporary threats by evolving new avenues of cooperation.

We are confident that today’s meeting would help in formulating effective approaches to address the challenge ahead of us.

Located in a region where two of our immediate neighbors have been severely impacted by COVID-19, Pakistan undertook a range of measures at an early stage to mitigate its spread and address its effects.
A robust institutional mechanism was set up to ensure a unified response.

Wide-ranging measures were introduced to check the spread of the virus. These included international & domestic travel restrictions, school closures, restrictions on public gathering, localized quarantines, strengthening of country-wide health response, and varying levels of lockdown in cities across the country.

Screening and testing, surveillance of cases, and launching an information campaign to raise awareness among the public also helped our timely response.

Our three-pronged response of preventing COVID-19 from spreading, suppressing it, and mitigating its impact has largely been effective, as Pakistan is still in the containment phase.

In order to address the social and economic impact of the pandemic, the Prime Minister launched a package of approximately US$ 8 billion for vulnerable groups covering relief measures in cash for daily wage workers, low-income families, financial support for SMEs, support for health and food supplies and fuel prices, and procurement of emergency services. Additionally, the Government is expanding the network of Panagahs (shelter homes).

Even in this crisis, the Government of Pakistan and its people remain generous and open-hearted. We have instructed relevant departments to not refuse any refugee access to health facilities and medicine.

However, we are requesting the UN, the High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International Organization for Migration to come forward and help us assist the Afghan Refugees, both documented and undocumented.

I would like to especially highlight that our brotherly country of Afghanistan deserves enhanced international attention and support to strengthen their health systems to respond to COVID-19 challenges.

National responses, however, cannot be fully effective unless complemented by strong international cooperation and mobilization of much-needed resources.

While the pandemic is primarily a health crisis, its social and economic impacts are far-reaching and devastating. It has exposed the fragility of our societies and economies to shocks, laying bare deep inequalities that threaten the achievement of the SDGs.

Developing countries are likely to suffer from massive poverty, unemployment, and social unrest against the backdrop of a sharp economic downturn.

In view of the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts on developing countries, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for a “Global Initiative on Debt Relief” which aims to seek urgent debt relief for low-income and middle-income countries.

Developing countries must be supported in overcoming the massive impact of COVID-19 by providing fiscal space and financial relief to manage the consequences of the unfolding crisis.

The scale of the crisis triggered by COVID-19 must be matched by the magnitude of our response, which must be large-scale, innovative, and coordinated.

A holistic response to COVID-19 must incorporate broader development dimensions along with the health system challenges. Our response must also emphasize the importance of health security as a key component of national security, leading to enhanced investments in healthcare infrastructure.

At the same time, our collective response should stay clear of politicization and pursuit of narrower agendas. These exceptional circumstances call for exceptional solidarity.

Our Movement has a proud legacy of upholding the principles of the UN Charter and the values of multilateralism and solidarity for advancing the common goal of sustained peace and development.

These core values must remain at the forefront as we navigate the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic.

Guided by the founding principles of our Movement, and our solidarity and commitment to these principles, Pakistan will continue to play its due role in the efforts to fight the pandemic and its impact.

Our efforts to fight COVID-19 and its impact must not remain oblivious to the dangerous trends that have ominously crept up in the wake of the pandemic.

There has been an alarming increase in religious intolerance, hate speech, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, and other forms of discrimination, resulting in incitement to hatred against and scapegoating of religious minorities for the spread of the virus.

Those targeted, especially children, women, and elderly, have faced verbal abuse, death threats, and physical attacks, and have even been denied access to vital health services.

Nowhere are these trends more pronounced than in our immediate neighborhood, where a response to COVID-19 has been not only been discriminatory but also specifically targeting Muslims.

The spread of the virus has been widely dubbed “Corona Jihad” by supporters of a far-right government, amid claims that the pandemic is a conspiracy by Muslims to infect people from other religions. This hate-mongering is part of ideological dispensation and anti-minority agenda, that has taken deep roots in our neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the people of Kashmir in our region, who have been under occupation since 1947, have now been made to suffer under a political lockdown since August 2019.

The situation has become even more aggravated in the wake of the pandemic, where the Kashmiris continue to be denied high-speed internet access to the world and face restrictions in terms of medical and other supplies. The Kashmiri political leaders and a vast majority of its youth are languishing in crowded jails, making them vulnerable to the pandemic.

It is unfortunate that while the world’s attention has been focussed on fighting COVID-19, opportunistic moves were made to alter the demographic structure of the occupied territory, in complete violation of international law and relevant UNSC resolutions.

Despite UN Secretary General’s appeal to avoid war and war-like situations during this pandemic we have suffered cross LoC heavy shelling resulting in many civilian deaths.

This unprecedented crisis can and must be transformed into an opportunity to create a more equitable world economy that can enable developing countries to make progress towards Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring that in an interconnected, inter-dependent an increasingly globalized world, our policies, and responses to such crisis, leaves no one behind.

This conference must resolve that:
1. All skirmishes, warlike situations must be ceased so that countries can focus.
2. Our efforts to handle COVID-19 should stay clear of politicization and pursuit of narrow agenda.
3. There should be an urgent Global Initiative on Debt Relief.
4. There should be strong efforts by Governments to discourage intolerance & discrimination, incitement to hatred, etc because of COVID-19 and to provide equal health access to all people.
5. A major effort particularly focused on the poorest in the world for their relief, and revival of economies at the earliest so that livelihoods may be restored.

The world has never been in more serious crises which loudly demands that leaders of the world should rise and lift humanity out of its misery and save the world as we know it, indeed to improve upon it.
Pakistan stands ready to support you and work closely with Your Excellency in this endeavor.

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