Islamabad: Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğluhave discussed the issue of Pakistani citizens stranded in Turkey due to travel restrictions imposed in the aftermath of coronavirus pandemic.
In a telephonic conversation, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has expressed Pakistan’s solidarity with their Turkish brothers and lauded the initiatives of Turkish government to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The Turkish foreign minister has ensured his Pakistani counterpart that Turkish government is committed to cater the needs Pakistani citizens as their own, who have been left stranded in Turkey due to travel restrictions imposed by the two countries amid coronavirus outbreak.
In addition to it, Mr Qureshi, in a telephone conversation with his Bangladeshi counterpart – Minister for Foreign Affairs A.K. Abdul Momen, suggested that SAARC should evaluate and coordinate on the economic and social disruption caused by COVID-19 and experts from the member countries should commence work in this regard immediately.
He also highlighted the need for debt restructuring by developed countries and the international financial institutions so that the available resources could be utilized to deal with the unprecedented global health emergency.
Earlier, foreign minister Qureshi had underlined the need for immediate lifting of sanctions against Iran and enabling the Iranian authorities to utilize their resources for saving precious human lives.
