At SAARC’s COVID-19 meet, Modi proposes new emergency fund
‘Prepare, but don’t panic’ has been the guiding mantra of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday during a video-conference with the SAARC member countries on the coronavirus pandemic. The prime minister said so far, fewer than 150 cases have been reported from the South Asian region.
‘Prepare, but don’t panic’ has been the guiding mantra of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday during a video-conference with the SAARC member countries on the coronavirus pandemic.
The conference was convened following Modi’s proposal to chalk out a common strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the South Asian region.
Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza participated in the video conference
“As we prepare to face this challenge, let me briefly share India’s experience of combating the spread of this virus so far. ‘Prepare, but don’t panic’ has been our guiding mantra,” Modi said in his opening address.
The prime minister said fewer than 150 cases have been reported from the South Asian region so far. “But we need to remain vigilant,” he added. India started screening of foreigners entering the country from mid-January and gradually increased restrictions on travel, he said. “The step-by-step approach has helped avoid panic,” he added.
“We also responded to the call of our people abroad. We evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries. We also similarly helped some of the citizens of our neighborhood countries,” said Modi. The prime minister had on Friday proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.
SAARC is a regional inter-governmental organisation of eight south Asian countries — India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Bhutan, and Nepal.
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PM Modi also proposed to create a COVID-19 emergency fund based on voluntary contributions from the SAARC member nations. “India can start with an initial offer of $10 million for coronavirus emergency fund… It is clear we have to work together; we can respond best to coronavirus by coming together, not growing apart,” said Modi.
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said no country on its own can succeed in combating the virus, as he thanked Modi for “timely call for regional initiative”. “The Maldives is fortunate to have received general assistance from India and I convey my government’s appreciation to Mr Modi and people of India,” he said.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said the SAARC nations should create a common framework for tele-medicine to combat coronavirus. “The closing of borders will result in a significant problem of availability of food, medicines and basic goods,” he said.
“Since India is both a very important member of the SAARC and a member of Shanghai Cooperation, it can coordinate between SAARC and Shanghai Cooperation and share how much experience of China is replicable to our situation and how do we learn from their experience,” said Ghani.
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Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said the island nation’s economy has taken serious blow due to coronavirus, particularly the tourism sector which was just recovering after last years’ terrorist attack. “I strongly recommend SAARC leaders to formulate mechanism to assist our economies to tide over difficult period,” he said.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said to continue this dialogue at technical level, the health ministers, health secretaries and health experts of the SAARC nations should also hold this kind of video conferences to discuss specific areas of cooperation.
Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli said the collective wisdom and efforts of the SAARC nations will help them devise a sound and robust strategy for the south Asian region for its fight against the coronavirus.
Bhutan PM Lotay Tshering said togetherness is required at all times, but when the world is fighting one common disease, it is very important to leave behind the differences.
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Pakistan’s State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza said there is no room for any complacency since all the SAARC nations have confirmed coronavirus cases. While hoping for the best we have to be prepared for the worst, he said.
“We have decided to close all our educational institutions for three weeks, close the entire western border for two weeks, restrict international flights to three airports only and to ban all large public gatherings,” said Mirza.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country has 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,” said PM Modi.
(With inputs from agencies)