Pakistan says SAARC Secretariat must be enabled to play due role in any activity organized under SAARC auspices

ISLAMABAD, Apr 8 (APP):Pakistan on Wednesday said since the South Asian Association of Regional Coordination (SAARC) Secretariat was not part of the April 8 Trade Officials Video-Conference on Covid-19, it chose not to participate.

“Activities such as today’s Trade Officials’ Video-Conference could only be effective if spearheaded by the SAARC Secretariat,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Ms. Aisha Farooqui stated in response to media queries regarding Pakistan’s non-participation in the Video-Conference on Covid-19 arranged by India.

The spokesperson said in order for the SAARC process to move forward, the SAARC Secretariat must be enabled to play its due role in any event or activity being organized under SAARC auspices.

At a time when the region was facing unprecedented challenges, all the available institutional frameworks must be optimally utilized, she added.

The spokesperson further said being a founding member, Pakistan believed that SAARC provided an important platform for regional cooperation.

“The role of the Secretariat assumes further salience in emergency situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic, and its wider social and economic fall-out,” she added.

“As in the case of other regional and international organizations, SAARC Secretariat also provides the requisite convening platform, institutional framework and support structure for essential coordination and follow-up,” the spokesperson maintained.