
Nepal and Bhutan have pitched in for the COVID-19 emergency fundfor South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries which was envisioned by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kathmandu has announced 10 crore Nepali Rupees for the fund while Bhutan has announcedUSD 100,000 for it.
Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced it during his Friday evening address to the nation on the COVID-19 pandemic. He said, "I want to inform you that Nepal will contribute Rs 10 crores in this fund set up with the objective to provide requisite help to the SAARC nations"
The Bhutan foreign office in a statement said, "The Royal Government of Bhutan has welcomed the establishment of the Emergency Fundand has decided to make an initial contribution of USD 100,000 (US Dollar One Hundred Thousand only)."
Recognising the urgent need for "collective efforts to combat such crisis", Bhutan government said, it "would like to reassure its full support and cooperation to do everything possible in close collaboration with all Member States to overcome the COVID- 19 pandemic".
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the formation of the fund during the SAARC video conference that took place last Sunday to curate a joint COVID-19 strategy. India had offered to pitch inUSD 10 million for the emergency fund.
The proposal for the video conference was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week on Twitter, and the video conference happened on Sunday. All SAARC leaders were present in the meet except Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan who had sent a junior representative, Special Advisor on Health Dr Zafar Mirza to represent him.