Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday joined her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and other leaders of the SAARC nations to discuss ways out of the coronavirus crisis.
Coronavirus has been spreading through South Asia along with the rest of the world.
“I hope this conference will show a new path to all of us in tackling the coronavirus,” Hasina was quoted in reports from her speech via videoconferencing.
She also said the health ministers and secretaries can also have a similar conference to discuss the technicalities of the response to the coronavirus.
In her brief speech, Hasina mentioned that Bangladesh has only five imported cases, but no local cases so far.
She said Bangladesh was ready to share its capacity and expertise, including logistics support, with the SAARC countries, to fight the virus.
She proposed establishment of an institution in Bangladesh to prevent and fight any public health threats in the South Asian region.
Modi led the discussion that started via videoconferencing at 5:30 pm Dhaka time on Sunday and said: “We cannot predict the situation which is why it is most valuable to share each other’s perspective.”
The others who joined the talks include Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. Zafar Mirza, special assistant on health to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, represented their country.