SAARC video conference discusses ways to combat Covid-19; India pledges $10 million for Covid-19 fund
The meeting was the initiative of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
Photo: ANI
By IAR Desk
A video conference of the leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was held on Sunday, 15 March, 2020, to discuss collective measures and intiatives that the grouping could take to combat the deadly Covid-19 pandemic which continues to spread with mounting casualties across the globe.
The meeting was the initiative of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. All the SAARC countries participated in the meeting, at which Prime Minister Modi briefed the SAARC member countries about India’s experience of combating the spread of coronavirus so far.
India pledged 10 million for a Covid-19 fund it proposed with voluntary contributions from SAARC member-states.
Amongst other initiatives that India proposed were the creation of a Research Platform for all SAARC states to share ideas and proposals for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for diseases and epidemics, the use of SAARC Disaster Management Center to identify and popularise best practices in fighting Covid-19, and a common SAARC pandemic protocols to be applied on all borders.
Prime Minister Modi said India has developed protocols for each stage of managing the pandemic. “We have developed protocols for each stage of managing this pandemic : for screening at entry points; contact tracing of suspected cases; quarantine and management of isolation facilities; and for discharge of cleared cases,” he said.
India also offered Indian rapid response teams of doctors, specialists and testing equipment for the use by the members. India has already set up such a testing centre in the Iranian capital Tehran where its testing some of the 6000 Indians who are in Iran, which has recorded one of the worst outbreaks of Covid-19.
Prime Minister Modi also offered online training capsule for emergency response sttaff by using the same module the country is using to raise the capacity of the emergency staff across the country.
“Prepare, but don’t panic has been our guiding mantra. 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. We have made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups,” he said.
The SAARC region has listed fewer than 150 cases, but it is expected to grow. India has recorded 110 Covid-19 cases till, and two deaths now as per the data available by the Ministry of Health.
Afghanistan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka raised the financial dimensinos of Covid-19. Covid-19 has negatively impacted tourism, which contributes to 24 per cent of the Maldivian GDP and is a major revenue generator for Sri Lanka too. Sri Lanla’s tourism industry had just begun to recover after the devastating blow it had been dealt by the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in April last year.
Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina expressed appreciaton for India which helped evacuate 24 Bangladeshi students from China. India has so far evacuated almost 1400 Indians from different countries.
India has also sent humanitarian and medical aid to the Maldives to deal with the pandemic.
Pakistan alone made an attempt to politicise the issue by raising ‘concerns’ about Covid-19 cases reported from Jammu and Kashmir.
