China willing to play 'constructive role' in easing Indo-Pak ties

Agencies
August 23, 2018

Beijing, Aug 23: China has said that it is willing to play a "constructive role" in improving the relations between India and Pakistan.

Addressing a press briefing here on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang said that Beijing welcomed the "positive" comments recently made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his new Pakistani counterpart, Imran Khan, on improving and bolstering their bilateral relations.

Calling India and Pakistan 'important countries in South Asia', Kang expressed that both New Delhi and Islamabad would enhance their ties by resolving differences between each other in order 'to contribute to regional peace and stability'.

"The improvement and development of their bilateral ties are very important to regional peace, stability and prosperity. As a neighbor to both Pakistan and India, China sincerely hopes that the two sides could enhance dialogue, increase mutual trust, properly handle and resolve differences, and make joint contributions to regional peace and development. China is willing to play a constructive role in this regard," the spokesperson noted.

"Anything that will help the two sides improve relations continuously and contribute to regional peace and stability deserves recognition. As long as there is any possibility, China certainly would like to play a positive and constructive role," he added.

On being asked whether he was suggesting that China is willing to mediate between India and Pakistan, Kang said, "I cannot make a prediction for you at this moment as to when and how China will do something. But it is obvious that playing a constructive role means advancing, consolidating and sustaining positive momentum."

This is not the first time when China has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan. Earlier in April, China had asked Pakistan to engage with India to keep tensions between the two countries to a minimum for timely completion of various projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

In June, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, where India and Pakistan were designated as full-time members, China's Foreign Minister and State Councilor, Wang Yi had advocated for resolution of differences between both the countries.

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News Network
March 21,2020

Beijing, Mar 21: China reported no domestically transmitted coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day even as seven more fatalities have been confirmed, taking the death toll in the country to 3255.

No new domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19 were reported on the Chinese mainland for the third day in a row on Friday, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Saturday.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 81,008 by the end of Friday, which included 3,255 who died, 6,013 patients still undergoing treatment, 71,740 patients who had been discharged after recovery, the NHC said.

The NHC said 41 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Friday from the people arriving from abroad, taking the total number of imported cases to 269.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Jakarta, Mar 15: Indonesia's transport minister is in intensive care after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, an official has said, as schools and tourist attractions were ordered to close over the health threat.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi was receiving treatment at an army hospital in Jakarta, State Secretary Pratikno said on Saturday.

A hospital spokesman said Sumadi was encountering difficulty breathing but that his condition was improving.

Pratikno said Sumadi was involved in virus mitigation efforts, particularly the evacuation of Indonesians from epicenters of the outbreak, and that President Joko Widodo had called for tests to be carried out on other ministers.

Cases of the virus in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, have jumped from zero two weeks ago to 96, with five deaths, according to government spokesperson Achmad Yurianto.

He also said the virus has spread outside Greater Jakarta to Bandung in West Java, Solo in Central Java, Manado in North Sulawesi, Pontianak in West Kalimantan, as well as holiday havens Yogyakarta and Bali.

Following the increase, the government on Saturday established a task force on COVID-19 mitigation.

Jakarta's Governor Anies Baswedan announced that schools would close for two weeks starting Monday, and ordered the closure of city-owned tourist attractions, such as Ragunan Zoo and Ancol beach.

He emphasized that Jakarta would not be locked down but urged people "to be responsible" and called for social distancing when possible.

Similarly, the administration of Solo, Central Java, Friday announced that schools and tourist attractions would close after a coronavirus patient died in the region.

The World Health Organization has said it is particularly concerned about high-risk nations with weaker health systems, which who may lack the facilities to identify cases.

A day after declaring the coronavirus outbreak to be pandemic this week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called Indonesia's president Widodo and both agreed to "scale up cooperation."

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Mexico City, Aug 1: The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Mexico, has risen by 688 to 46,688 within the past 24 hours, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said.

The number of victims in Mexico is now higher than in the United Kingdom, where 46,119 people have died of the disease. The largest number of fatalities - 153,311 - has been recorded in the United States, while Brazil comes second with 92,475 deaths.

Lopez-Gatell also said on late Friday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 8,458 to 424,637 over the past day.

A day earlier, the Latin American nation recorded 7,730 new cases of the coronavirus, with 639 fatalities.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, over 17.5 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 677,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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