Positive efforts by Pakistan

 Pakistan stood with China in solidarity and showed its trust in the Chinese
leadership.
 Spoke to the US on behalf of Iran for easing of sanctions to alleviate the financial
implications of the Covid-19.
 Pakistan’s FM SM Qureshi talked to his Singapore and Malaysian counterparts
for seeking cooperation and support in battling the pandemic and requesting
Singapore to share its technology for identifying and tracking the COVDI-19
victims.
 Pakistan kept the Afghan border open for the movement of trucks of goods to
Afghanistan, for which Afghan political leadership acknowledged and appreciated
Islamabad’s cooperation and support
 In one of the initiatives, Pakistan briefed foreign diplomats in Islamabad on the
country’s efforts in addressing the disease.
 Pakistan launched a campaign for Global Debt Relief initiative to seek financial
assistance from countries and international organizations “to craft a
comprehensive response to the financial implications of COVID-19”.
 International organizations like the G20, UN ECOSOC, World Bank and IMF
launched a debt relief program for developing countries, for which Pakistan’s
premier kept stressing since the outset of the pandemic crisis in the world. G20,
and other international financial institutions like World Bank, IMF pledged debt
relief and financial support for the country.
 Pakistan launched a virtual National COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and
Response Plan for “emergency prevention, preparedness, response and relief”
and building a “health system” in the country. Representatives from multilateral
organizations such as WHO, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, IMF, UN’s
ECOSOC, international and local non-governmental organizations and
diplomatic heads of the US, China, Canada, Australia, France and Korea joined
the virtual initiative. http://mofa.gov.pk/pakistan-launches-initial-us-595-
million-preparedness-and-response-plan-to-combat-covid-19/

 Pakistan’s role in SAARC:

o India took the initiative of launching video conference of heads of
governments of the SAARC countries
o All SAARC countries’ heads of governments participated, but Pakistan’s
advisor to PM Khan on health affairs Zafar Mirza participated
o Pakistan has had issues with India’s launch of SAARC Emergency Fund;
wanted it to be setup in the SAARC headquarters/secretariat in
Kathmandu, Nepal. Initially Pakistan was hesitant from contributing to
the Fund. On April 9, it was reported that the country “pledged” $3 million
 to the Fund (http://mofa.gov.pk/pakistan-pledges-us-3-million-towards-
the-saarc-covid-19-emergency-fund/).
o Organized video conference of SAARC health ministers Apr 23

 Pakistan’s role in D-8: (http://mofa.gov.pk/virtual-working-group-meeting-of-

the-focal-persons-of-the-d-8-health-and-protection-hsp-programme-on-covid-
19-pandemic/)
o D8 is an organization of eight countries: Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Malaysia, and Nigeria.
o D8 coordinated a virtual working group meeting of representatives from
D8’s Health and Protection program on the COVID-19.
o This organization has strong relevance to Malaysian PM’s Kualalumpur
Summit initiative.

 Pakistan participated in the OIC’s Extraordinary Steering Committee on Health

on the Pandemic Crisis on April 10 to discuss the utilization of available resources
to help the Muslim countries in battling the pandemic.
(http://mofa.gov.pk/foreign-minister-makhdoom-shah-mahmood-qureshi-held-
a-telephone-conversation-this-morning-with-the-foreign-minister-of-the-
republic-of-korea-ms-kang-kyung-wha-the-discussion-focussed-on-the-covid-
1/).

This information suggests that Pakistan is active in cooperation and collaboration with
the international community, including countries and international organizations, to
fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Its participation at regional and multilateral forums
endorses global efforts in defeating the common enemy.

SHORTCOMINGS:

SAARC and regional cooperation

It is appreciable that Pakistan has participated in the India-led initiative of SAARC

video-conference, but the country’s response has arguably been hesitant and
ambiguous. In a heads of government’s virtual meeting, the country’s special assistant to
PM on health affairs participated. Later, it did not want to contribute to the SAARC
Emergency Fund established by India and said that it should be organized by the
SAARC’s headquarters. It contributed to the Fund belatedly eventually (April 10 th). Also,
it refrained from participating in the trade officials’ video conference on the reason that
SAARC Secretariat should be present and it should lead the initiative.
It looks like Pakistan wants to cooperate, but cannot afford India-led initiatives. Its
cooperation with other South Asian countries is abysmal. It says it has issues with India
due to the Kashmir situation and India’s allegedly illegal constitutional amendment
related to the Kashmir and the prevailing human rights situation there, and it is
understandable. But, at the cost of that, the country hasn’t quite got along with other
South Asian countries. Its foreign policy, it appears, is fixated on India and related
problems. While the country’s prime minister would quibble with Saudi Arabia, for
instance, to go to Malaysia, he doesn’t have time to visit his neighboring countries like
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the COVID-19 as well, our crisis diplomacy is limited to
video-conferencing. New Delhi took the initiative of helping citizens of regional
countries in China and brought them back to its quarantine centers and then sent them
to their respective countries. Islamabad arguably lost the opportunity to stand in
solidarity with its South Asian neighbors and commit financial, medical and moral
support to them, and keep aside its politics with India.

According to World Bank’s April-2020 report on South Asia’s economic forecast,

Pakistan and Sri Lanka would be worst affected by the COVID-19. One of the reasons of
Pakistan’s worsening economic growth would be its lack of significant trade in the
neighborhood.

It can be argued that it might not be fair to blame Pakistan for being hesitant in taking
initiatives and cooperating with other countries in the neighborhood. There is a global
wave of nationalistic aspirations, which have only become starker during the global
pandemic. Italy first, Britain first and America first are cases in point. Despite having
European Union, the European countries are battling the pandemic domestically;
regional cooperation is virtually non-existent.

2.

This is a good opportunity to seek technological cooperation with China, South Korea,
Taiwan and Singapore in tracking, identifying and combatting the pandemic. Islamabad
may ask these countries that have successfully dealt with the pandemic to invest in
Pakistan’s technological efforts to contain the spread of the virus through surveillance
technology, 5G imaging, and so on. Later, Pakistan might expand its technological
cooperation with these countries in other areas.

3.

Pakistan’s interests would be well-served if it strengthens its relations and cooperation

with South Asian countries. Islamabad should not remain fixated on India-specific
regional and global diplomacy. The global pandemic and its financial implications reveal
that countries that have greater trade in the region might be relatively less affected as
compared to those that have little trade with neighbors. The ongoing crisis situation has
only highlighted Pakistan’s geo-economic importance of serving as a hub of the transit
of goods—only if the country opens its borders east—and west-ward.