TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, held talks with Imran Khan, Pakistan prime minister, on Thursday.

According to Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, the talks centred around the Global Initiative on Debt Relief canvassed by leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group.

The Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group is an alliance of 120 countries.

During an online summit held on Monday, NAM leaders had agreed that a debt relief campaign would be launched for developing countries to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The leaders also believed that the debt relief would also help to address the unprecedented health and socioeconomic challenges facing most of the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group.

Speaking on Monday during a virtual summit of heads of state and government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Buhari said national, regional and global strategies would be required to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

He urged international financial institutions to assist member states in cushioning the negative impact of the pandemic in the spirit of solidarity.

“Within the spirit of south-south cooperation, we must also assist one another, particularly the less developed and less endowed member states with technical, medical and financial assistance,” he said.

“It is by so doing that we can rightly claim to uphold the Bandung Principles of equality, mutual interests and cooperation”

Buhari suggested that international financial institutions offer concessional loans, technical support, lowering of tariff on medical equipment and consumables, sharing of expertise in case management, adopting open trade policies, as well as outright debt cancellation to help developing countries.