ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday regretted negative remarks by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs' spokesperson regarding a goodwill suggestion by Prime Minister Imran Khan to share Pakistan's successful experience in ameliorating impact of the Covid-19 on the poorest sections of the society. "Remarks by the MEA's spokesperson reflect an unprofessional attempt at point-scoring over a serious issue that involves lives of millions of poor people in the sub-continent, worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic," said Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui, while responding to her Indian counterpart Anurag Srivastav, who advised Prime Minister Khan "to get new advisors and better information".
Farooqui said the prime minister of Pakistan's suggestion was in the backdrop of a study by a reputable US university that highlighted the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on Indian households especially the poorest sections of the society and effectiveness of direct cash transfers and food to the poor families affected by lockdowns.
She said international agencies had appreciated positive impact of the Government of Pakistan's direct cash transfer of Rs120 billion to 10 million poor families in Pakistan in most transparent manner. "The prime minister's offer at this challenging time of a global pandemic was in consonance with the initiative for sharing national experiences among Saarc member countries in dealing with the impact of Covid-19. If that intent was serious, then the MEA's response to Prime Minister Imran Khan's suggestion is inconsistent with the stated position of their own leadership," Farooqui asserted.
She said the Government of Pakistan emphasised that the global pandemic was a common challenge, demanding serious efforts and honest sharing of national experiences among countries, while rising above petty point-scoring.
In a recent tweet, Prime Minister Khan stated: "According to report, 34 percent of households across India will not be able to survive for more than a week without add assistance. I am ready to offer help & share our successful cash transfer programme, lauded internationally for its reach & transparency, with India."
Srivastav, in his weekly briefing on Thursday, responded to Prime Minister Khan's offer and instead, advised him "to get new advisors and better information".
"Pakistan is better known for making cash transfers to accounts outside the country rather than giving to its own people...Clearly, Imran Khan needs a set of new advisers and better information. We have all known about their debt problems (almost 90 percent of GDP) and how much they have pressed for debt reconstruction," the Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman had added.
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