ISLAMABAD: The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, called his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and shared that the UAE was working with international partners to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the Pakistani foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
“The UAE is engaged with efforts for working on developing vaccine for the virus in collaboration with its international partners,” a statement by the foreign office said, without providing further details.
The two leaders also discussed in detail the steps their respective countries were taking against the coronavirus epidemic.
“He [Qureshi] conveyed that with the steps being taken by the [Pakistan] government and especially after smart lockdown in various cities, Pakistan is witnessing a downturn in the COVID-19 pandemic and recovered cases had been outnumbering new cases,” the statement said.
Pakistan on Wednesday reported 1,332 new cases of coronavirus and 38 deaths in the last 24 hours, a significant decrease from previous days. The country has so far confirmed 267,428 infections and 5,677 deaths.
Qureshi also lauded the steps taken by the UAE government to successfully tackle the pandemic in its own country and congratulated the leadership and people of the UAE for sending a spacecraft on a seven-month journey to Mars, the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.
“He [Qureshi] conveyed that the UAE’s Mars Mission [Hope Probe] is a pride for all Muslims and a great contribution to human knowledge,” the foreign office said.
The UAE foreign minister appreciated the response of the Pakistan government in tackling the pandemic and also highlighted the efforts of the UAE government “in controlling the pandemic.”
