N-95 masks were assembled and test kits were not produced in the country: S Jaishankar
New Delhi:
Foreign Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday welcomed India’s response to COVID-19, saying it should give people confidence in the country’s future.
Speaking at the third edition of the Deccan Dialogue, Mr. Jaishankar said: “A nation that was not prepared for a huge crisis has responded in a way that gives us all confidence in our future. “
The minister said that at the start of the pandemic India was unable to provide enough PPE and ventilators. Even the N-95 masks were assembled in small quantities, and test kits were not produced in the country.
“We should ask ourselves why not earlier today not only (India) is meeting its national needs but is helping beyond.”
He also said that during the current pandemic situation, social discipline in India stood out compared to many developed countries which was the influence of leadership and motivation.
“If we had created more than 15,000 dedicated facilities, with 1.5 million isolation beds, if more than a million Indians are tested daily by 7,000 centers, if Aarogya Setu was designed to facilitate testing contractual, that says a lot about our inherent capacities ”. Said Mr. Jaishankar.
He further added: “The challenge now is to take advantage of this ability to rise up to the moment of the crisis and transform it into a more routine set of practices and procedures, and I believe India who will emerge from the Covid crisis will do just that. “
The Minister of External Affairs also spoke about Vande Bharat’s mission, informing that nearly 24 Indian lakh have been repatriated from foreign countries.
“From Air India to the Indian Navy, we have put pressure on all our resources to achieve this goal. The intention was very simple, today’s India will not leave an Indian abroad in distress” , he added.
Mr. Jaishankar also commented on the issues of climate change and state terrorism during his keynote address.
Deccan Dialogue is an initiative of the Indian Government’s Ministry of External Affairs, hosted by the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
It has become an annual flagship event, aimed at promoting multi-stakeholder conversations on India’s external engagement.
The third edition of the Deccan Dialogue will deliberate on the theme “Crisis and cooperation: imperative in the era of the pandemic”.
It is about helping all stakeholders to understand the changes and engage in a political dialogue, where international, national and local stakeholders can come together to collectively reflect on, address and respond to the crisis.
