Together we’ll fight Covid-19
Modi to Hasina, thanks her for pledging $1.5 million for Saarc emergency fund
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for announcing $1.5 million as contribution to the Saarc Covid-19 Emergency Fund.
"Grateful to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh for announcing $1.5 million as contribution to the Covid-19 Emergency Fund. Through solidarity and working together, we will overcome challenges posed by Covid-19, he tweeted yesterday
On Sunday, Bangladesh announced that it would contribute $1.5 million to the Saarc Emergency Fund proposed by Modi to fight coronavirus in the region.
There are commitments from other countries, too, an official told UNB confirming Bangladesh's contribution.
On March 15, Modi said the emergency fund could be based on voluntary contributions from all of them and India can start with an initial offer of $10 million for this fund.
Nepal will contribute $1 million, Afghanistan $1 million, Bhutan $100,000, the Maldives $200,000, said the official.
The aim of the fund is to help any of Saarc nations meet the cost of immediate actions to combat this pandemic.
Foreign secretaries of the Saarc countries will finalise the concept of the fund and its operations.
Earlier, Modi proposed a strong strategy by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) member countries to fight the coronavirus threat in South Asian region.
Hasina welcomed Modi's proposal and had constructive dialogue with her Indian counterpart and other heads of state and government and discussed way forward at this testing time for the region and the world.