The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on March 19 said that it is moving fast on proposals announced during Prime Minister's video conference with SAARC leaders which was recently held with an aim to chalk out a joint strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic which has gripped the entire world.
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"We're moving fast on proposals announced during PM's video conferencing with SAARC leaders. The emergency fund is up and running. We've received many requests from other SAARC countries in the form of masks, gloves etc. The quantum of assistance requested so far as crossed USD 1million," MEA spokesperson said during a weekly briefing. He stressed that the crisis of such magnitude does not recognise borders and it also requires a very coordinated response the countries need to cooperate at every regional as well as global level. "It was in this spirit that the PM decided to get the initiative of getting all the SAARC leaders together and to closely cooperate how to address the pandemic," he stated.
The ministry further noted that supplies to Bhutan and Maldives have already been dispatched and requests from other SAARC countries are under various stages of progress. "The implementation of the initiative of the Prime Minister is in our top priority. If we could address the situation properly it would be a good example of our cooperation," he said.
Prime Minister proposed the creation of a COVID-19 emergency fund based on voluntary contributions from all the countries, with India making an initial offer of USD 10 million for the fund during his interaction with the leaders of the SAARC countries through video conference on Sunday. The fund can be used by any of the partner countries to meet the cost of immediate actions," the MEA said in a statement.
The Prime Minister also informed that India is assembling a rapid response team of doctors and specialists, along with testing kits and other equipment, which will be on stand-by, to be placed at the disposal of the countries, if required.
According to the MEA, the Prime Minister also offered to arrange for online training capsules for the emergency response teams of the neighbouring countries and sharing of the software behind India's Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to help trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted. He suggested that existing mechanisms like SAARC Disaster Management Centre can be used to pool in best practices as also the creation of a common research platform to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within the South Asian region.
"The leaders thanked the Prime Minister for the proposed initiatives. The Prime Minister reiterated the resolve to battle together and said that neighbourhood collaboration by SAARC countries should serve as a model for the world," the ministry said in a statement. The Prime Minister said that the guiding mantra for India has been "prepare, but don't panic". He said that India has not only "successfully evacuated almost 1,400 Indians from different countries but also evacuated some of the citizens of the neighbouring countries in accordance with the 'neighbourhood first policy'."
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