External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday started back-to-back interactions with Indian envoys to exchange notes on the challenges posed by the rapid spread of the Sars-Cov-2. Jaishankar, who is speaking via video conference with the heads of missions in groups, also delivered a clear message on dealing with Indians stranded abroad.
They should stay put and not panic.
The interaction, being held via video conference, began at about 4.45 pm (IST) and continued till late evening, people familiar with the development said.
The basic purpose of the interaction with the heads of mission was to brief them about the steps taken by the government and ask diplomats on the frontline to remain vigilant, the people mentioned above said.
A question that cropped up more than once was on Indians in their respective countries who would panic and try to put pressure to get back to India.
Jaishankar asked them to continue their outreach to the Indian community and reassure them that there was no need to panic but they must stay put.
The foreign minister’s decision to hold the interactions with Indian envoys in groups comes a day after India barred scheduled international flights from landing in the country for the next one week, an effort to reduce the chances of people who have contracted the virus from spreading it in India.
{{/usCountry}}The foreign minister’s decision to hold the interactions with Indian envoys in groups comes a day after India barred scheduled international flights from landing in the country for the next one week, an effort to reduce the chances of people who have contracted the virus from spreading it in India.
{{/usCountry}}A large number of the 200-plus Covid-19 patients in the country are individuals who recently returned from abroad. The others are people who came in contact with such patients, mostly when they did not have the symptoms of the Sars-Cov-2 infection.
Jaishankar is part of the group of ministers set up to handle the Indian response to the virus.
He also acknowledged the pivotal role played by the diplomats in handling the situation so far and asked them to up the game.
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“It has been a tough time for the diplomats in many countries”, the official mentioned above said. This is particularly the case in countries such as China, Iran, Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom that have had a large number of coronavirus, or Covid-19, cases, the official added.
The Sars-Cov-2 virus originated in China’s Wuhan where there were efforts to cover up the outbreak in the initial period before it seemed to get out of hand. By the time the world got a grip on the highly-contagious disease in China, it had travelled beyond its borders.
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Nearly 80,000 people have been infected in China alone; over 3,245 died. In countries that didn’t act in the initial stages, it has spread rapidly. Italy, which reports the second highest number of cases (41,000), has reported more deaths (3,400) than China.
By taking proactive measures, India has been able to restrict the spread of the disease for now. In his televised address to the nation, PM Modi had, however, echoed his government’s approach when he asked people to guard against complacency.
He had also underscored that the disease, which had impacted the world more than the two world wars, would also hurt countries and the global economy as well. Many other world leaders have also expressed similar concerns about the risk posed by the disease that originated in China.
It is in the context of this assessment that questions are also being raised about the silence of the United Nations Security Council on formulating a global response to the containing spread of Sars-Cov-2. Incidentally, China is the president of the UN Security Council this month.
But other global groupings have been working. Work is on to call for a G-20 meeting via video conference to put a global response in place