Pakistan rubbishes report on Wuhan Lab conducting ‘covert operations’

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday rubbished a report published in an Australian news outlet which alleged that Wuhan lab was conducting a covert operations in Pakistan.

In response to a media question about the Klaxon story on China’s Wuhan Lab conducting alleged covert operations in Pakistan, the Spokesperson stated that it is a politically motivated and fake story, composed of distortion of facts and fabrications that quote anonymous sources.”

It said that there was nothing secret about the Bio-Safety Level-3 (BSL-3) Laboratory of Pakistan referred to in the report.

Pakistan has been sharing information about the facility with the States Parties to the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BTWC) in its submission of Confidence Building Measures.

The facility is meant for diagnostic and protective system improvement by Research and Development (R&D) on emerging health threats, surveillance and disease outbreak investigation.

Pakistan strictly abides by its BTWC obligations and has been one of the most vocal supporters for a strong verification mechanism to ensure full compliance by the States Parties to the Convention.

“The attempt to cast aspersions about the facility is particularly absurd against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the need for better preparedness in the areas of disease surveillance and control and international collaborations in that regard, consistent with Article X of BTWC.”