China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal agree to jointly fight COVID-19
China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal have agreed to work together to strengthen cooperation and boost economic recovery during their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agreement was reached during a video conference on Monday night between Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quresh and Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.
وزرای خارجه افغانستان، چین، پاکستان و نیپال در جریان اجلاس چهارجانبه خویش روی همکاری صحی، اقتصادی و تامین آتش بس بشردوستانه در افغانستان تاکید نمودند.@Granhewad pic.twitter.com/oPsXFC4GrG
— MFA Afghanistan 🇦🇫 (@mfa_afghanistan) July 27, 2020
During the conference, the ministers discussed ways to boost cooperation in their countries’ fight against coronavirus and ways to boost economic recovery in light of the pandemic, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Wang Yi said that as a neighbor and partner, China stands ready to continue to work with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nepal to overcome difficulties, safeguard people’s health, promote the resumption of work and production and enhance people’s livelihood until the pandemic is over.
The ministers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal said the three sides are willing to deepen cooperation with China to fight COVID-19, ensure the flow of trade and transport corridors, facilitate people-to-people and trade connection, build a “silk road of health” and community of a shared future for humanity.
According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, the foreign ministers also stressed the importance of promoting the resumption of key cooperation projects and expanding new areas of digital cooperation.
More efforts are needed to promote the joint efforts of the Belt and Road and explore ways to synergize the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network, the foreign ministers said.
Wang Yi said: “We should support the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.”
Officials from the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment say that 294,000 tons of fresh and dried fruit have been exported from the province to foreign countries over the past year.
According to them, the total value of these exports amounts to $519 million.
Abdulbaqi Bina, Deputy Head of the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment, says the products were exported to India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Canada and several other countries.
Meanwhile, fresh and dried fruit traders are calling on the government to provide alternative transit routes, new markets, and greater facilitation for obtaining visas and transportation for the export of these products.
This comes as nearly 59,000 tons of fresh and dried fruit were exported from Kandahar to foreign countries
The case of 87 Afghan students seeking extensions of their study visas has reached the Islamabad High Court, with the students also asking for protection from arrest, detention and deportation, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.
According to Pakistani journalist Tahir Khan, the students have petitioned the court to order the government to extend their visas and prevent law-enforcement agencies from harassing, arresting, detaining or deporting them solely because their previous study visas have expired.
During Friday’s hearing, lawyer Aimal Khan Mandokhel told the court that Pakistan’s Interior Ministry had issued study visas to the Afghan students about a year ago. However, the students say authorities have since stopped extending existing visas and issuing new ones.
The Afghan Students Union at the International Islamic University Islamabad has also said Pakistani authorities have suspended study visa extensions for Afghan students for an extended period. It added that several students have allegedly been arrested and deported in recent months.
The hearing was adjourned following an exchange between Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and lawyer Aimal Khan Mandokhel.
The case is expected to be heard again later this month.
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