Modi set to call for joint effort to fight virus at G20 meet

NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the G-20 conference on Thursday to focus on the fight against the deadly Covid-19 disease, with participating countries pooling their medical knowledge and resources to block the spread and mitigate the impact of the virus.

Rather than be confined to the 15-member UN Security Council currently headed by China, where the coronavirus responsible for the pandemic originated, the G-20 is a representative body of 46 countries (if the European Union is divided into individual entities) with a large number of them ravaged by the rampaging infection. The expected G-20 call will be for member nations to ramp up their medical infrastructure to handle the worst-case sce

nario and partner in terms of their effort to deal with the crisis. Saudi Arabia is the convener of G-20 grouping.

Prime Minister Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the matter on Wednesday evening.

Although PM Modi declared a 21-day India lockdown to cope with the pandemic on Tuesday evening, he took the first decisive step to slow the spread of the virus (or flatten the curve) by stopping long distance trains running on the north-south corridor on March 18, government officials said. The decision was clearly meant to contain the virus to big metropolises where the medical infrastructure is better, rather than wait for UP and Bihar immigrants to spread the infection in their remote villages with virtually non-existent medical facilities, they added.

The janta curfew on March 22 was a test-run to calibrate the Indian response to combating the virus and plan for the degree of enforcement required for the worst-case scenario. Meanwhile, India has also focused on ramping up capacity to make ventilators, masks, hazmat suits and to identify and prepare isolation wards, the officials said. On Tuesday, Modi announced a ~15,000 crore package for this.

The officials and experts say a lockdown is needed because it will be impossible to contain the disease if it moved to community transmission stage given the weak medical infrastructure of India, not to mention the population density. With the virus multiplying in geometric progression in Italy, France, Spain and US, a lockdown was the best option, they added.

With a vaccine at least a year away, India’s hopes are in containing the virus spread till April 15 and then pray that the dry April heat in the Indian sub-continent takes care of the rest, the officials said.

The only problem is that this year western disturbances are highly active with intermittent rains lowering the temperature of Gangetic plains.

Rather than blame any country for the virus, India has kept all its lines open to talk to fellow nations to ensure that medical help is available in case the worst scenario plays out in the country, the officials said. China, where the virus first surfaced in November 2019, has utilised the past three months to really ramp up its medical capacities and adopted unconventional methods to contain the spread of Covid-19. India and China have decided to strengthen bilateral efforts to contain the disease, the officials added.

China, meanwhile, is trying to distance itself as the source of the disease. Many within the G-20 are worried about China opening up Wuhan in Hubei province, where the virus was first identified, a tad too early to score a normalcy point, the officials said.

US President will participate in a video conference with G20 leaders as part of the ongoing effort to coordinate an international response to the pandemic.