New Delhi (NVI): In a bid to broaden the scope of fight against coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today brought on single platform all the 8 members of SAARC grouping with a proposal for partnership, transcending differences in view of the pandemic.
He held a video conference with leaders and representatives of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan and proposed setting up of a COVID-19 Emergency Fund, which could be based on voluntary contributions from all the member nations.
On part of India, Modi pledged USD 10 million for the Fund.
After PM Modi, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Nepal PM K P Oli and Bhutan PM Dr Lotay Tshering also spoke on the coronavirus situation in their countries and efforts being made by their governments to contain the virus.
Pakistan was represented by Dr Zafar Mirza, Advisor to PM Imran Khan.
During the interaction, Modi called for coordinated efforts among SAARC member nations as he spoke about the steps taken by India to meet the challenge.
“We started screening entry into India from mid-January itself, while also gradually increasing restrictions on travel.
The step-by-step approach has helped avoid panic,” said PM Modi while opening the session.
He said India has made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups. “We have worked to quickly ramp up capacity in our system including through training our medical staff across the country,” he said.
Modi further informed other leaders that India has evacuated nearly 1400 Indians from different countries and mentioned that some of the citizens from neighboring countries were also helped to be able to return back to their native places.
After the members shared their thoughts on the situation and steps taken, PM Modi also spoke on the way forward and measures to be taken to combat COVID-19.
He said that India is assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists, along with testing kits and other equipment. “They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required,” he said.
During the interaction, PM said India is ready to help its SAARC members as it can quickly arrange online training capsules for their emergency response teams. “This will be based on the model we have used in our own country, to raise the capacity of all our emergency staff,” he added.
“We had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted. We could share this Disease Surveillance software with SAARC partners, and training on using this,” he said.
“Looking ahead, we could create a common Research Platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise,” he added.
The PM further suggested that all SAARC member nations can ask their experts to brainstorm on the longer-term economic consequences of COVID-19, and how “we can insulate our internal trade and our local value chains from its impact.”
Modi also called for evolving common SAARC Pandemic Protocols which can be applied on all the borders as well as within the borders in such situations.
The idea of the video conference was proposed by PM Modi on Friday as he called upon SAARC members to set an example to the world in their fight with COVID-19. The member nations had responded to PM’s initiative while lauding his leadership potential in the region.
