The Federal Minister for Interior, Brig Ijaz Ahmad Shah (retired) met with the Ambassador of European Union, Androulla Kaminara, along with Ambassador of Netherlands Wouter Plomp and Czech Republic's Ambassador Tomas Smentanka at the Ministry of Interior earlier Thursday, said a press release issued on Thursday.
Matters of mutual interest were brought under discussion, on exchanging views about the pandemic, the European Union ambassador offered aid of worth 150 million euros to assist Pakistan in combating the novel coronavirus.
"We would like to provide relief to the ones who are suffering in this hard time," she said.
The federal minister for interior welcomed the offer, and said it will be of great significance for masses who are unable to sustain living during this crisis situation.
In response to the point raised about expediting the process, the federal minister responded that the government has already issued instructions to facilitate the execution of relief projects.
The Ministry of Interior had issued orders earlier saying that the requirement of NOC was not mandatory and organizations could work in direct assistance with the NDMA and the PDMA countrywide.
The ambassador welcomed the systematic way of providing relief to the public.
"We would like to facilitate and support on local levels and this system can help us reach the deserving," she added.
While discussing other matters, the Minister for Interior, Brig (retired) Ijaz Ahmad Shah said that the government was trying its best to achieve a balance between health and economic needs of people.
Our departments have been trying to perform to best of their abilities, the minister said. Our overall performance has been quite satisfactory in majority of the areas, however, there is always room for improvement and we keep striving for the best, the minister said. "We want best for our people and we will keep working for it" he added.
The meeting concluded with the ambassador thanking for cooperation over previous projects with the Ministry of Interior that were successfully completed bearing fruitful results and with a hope that relief projects can be executed soon.-PR