New Delhi: India took a dig at Pakistan on Friday after the latter pledged recently to contribute to SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, weeks long after Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forward the idea.
When the other member countries quickly gave an okay to PM Modi’s appeal, Pakistan on Thursday announced that it will contribute USD 3 million to SAARC emergecy fund.
India said that the degree of seriousness of each member nation of the SAARC in collectively fighting the coronavirus pandemic can be gauged by their behaviour.
“It is for each SAARC member state to decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments. Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the prime minister is today in an advanced stage of implementation,” Ministry External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
“Assistance in material and services has been extended to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These SAARC countries have also made early commitments to the Fund. The degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by their behaviour,” the spokesperson said.
When on March 15, PM Modi proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India, all other SAARC nations had quickly donated to the emergency fund except Pakistan.
