Pakistan will gain significant benefits from Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s official two-day visit to Berlin. FM Shah’s visit will take the bilateral relations between Islamabad and Berlin to new heights. The two sides have been in close contact and have enjoyed friendly ties for seven decades. Germany is one country that has always provided assistance to Pakistan without any strings attached.
After Shah’s meeting with Mr Heiko Maas concluded, Shah announced that Pakistan would get 15 million doses of COVID vaccines under COVAX by May this year. Germany’s promise to supply these doses shows the humanitarian spirit of the German nation.
Undoubtedly, 15 million doses will be a big step to ease Pakistan’s hardships that COVID has put on the country. At present, the vaccine against COVID in the public sector drive is something that we direly need. Given that Pakistan is a country of 220 million, it will need more assistance from developed countries on the vaccine front. Since Pakistan is unable to procure vaccines on its own so far, largely due to financial difficulties, the Foreign Office and FM should make vaccine procurement an essential component of all visits to developed countries.
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In reference to the FM’s visit to Germany, it is pertinent to mention that the FM’s meetings with CEOs of different companies show Pakistan’s shift in policy to “geo-economics.” China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) offers immense profitable opportunities for industrially developed countries like Germany to enhance their commercial activities and investments in Pakistan.
The energy sector is one such area where Germany can bring in its expertise and help Pakistan shift towards more sustainable avenues of production. The cooperation between Pakistan and Germany in the energy sector can be a win-win situation for both sides, as Pakistan wants to introduce electric vehicles to protect the environment. However, the visits and exchanges of ideas must be backed by concrete actions so that all these great schemes can materialise without any further delay.
Source: https://nation.com.pk/14-Apr-2021/fm-visits-germany