Evacuation of Pakistanis in China against larger interest of country, says Dr Zafar Mirza.

ISLAMABAD -- The government has decided not to repatriate Pakistani citizens stranded in China in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza announced on Thursday.

"We believe that right now, it is in the interest of our loved ones in China [to stay there]. It is in the larger interest of the region, world, country that we don't evacuate them now," he told reporters at a press conference in Islamabad.

"This is what the World Health Organisation is saying, this is China's policy and this is our policy as well. We stand by China in full solidarity," he declared.

Right now the government of China has contained this epidemic in Wuhan city. If we act irresponsibly and start evacuating people from there, this epidemic will spread all over the world like wildfire.

"So far, China has not allowed evacuation [of people]," he said. "You will, of course, remind me the United States has evacuated its diplomatic staff - not all citizens. This is a condition of the Vienna Convention which dictates that the host country can allow diplomats to leave if their country wishes for them to return."

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Dr Mirza said that the embassy in China was in contact with the Pakistani citizens. He said that the government believes that China's policies to contain the virus were adequate, pointing out that China was the first country to have developed kits to diagnose the coronavirus.

"China is one country where this disease can be successfully diagnosed," he said and added that Pakistan was trying to improve its capability to diagnose and treat the virus.

"Government cares about its citizens just as much as their own families. But we don't want to [...] take an emotional decision and become a reason for the spread of this disease," he said and added: "Our responsibilities include ensuring that our citizens, especially those in Wuhan, are being looked after properly [...] Our Foreign Office and our embassy in China are constantly collecting and providing information."

Earlier today, Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that the government had complete data of Pakistani students currently in China and was in touch with Chinese authorities to address any challenges the students may be facing.

Farooqui was addressing the outbreak of the coronavirus that has killed around 170 people in China and has been detected in many other countries...