COVID-19: India maintains balance, attends separate con-calls arranged by US, China

Maintaining a delicate balance in its approach to the COVID-19 diplomacy, India on Friday participated in two separate conference calls initiated by China and the United States to discuss cooperation to deal with the pandemic.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla participated in a conference call initiated by US Deputy Secretary of State, Stephen Biegun, for a discussion among the governments of some countries in the Indo-Pacific region on issues related to countering the COVID-19.

The officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of External Affairs also participated in a separate conference call initiated by the Chinese Government for representatives of some Central Asian and South Asian nations.

The US has been stepping up cooperation with India and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region over the past few years – ostensibly to counter-hegemonic aspirations of China.

Keen to make it sure that is approach does not appear to be overtly adversarial to China; India, however, has been cautiously maintaining that its own vision for Indo-Pacific is inclusive and not aimed at containing any other nation.

Shringla, Biegun and other senior officials of the governments of Australia, South Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand and Japan on Friday shared their “assessments of the current situation with respect to COVID-19 and discussed ways to synergize their efforts to counter its spread”, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement issued in New Delhi.

The Foreign Secretary briefed his counterparts from the US and other Indo-Pacific nations on the “proactive steps” taken by the Government of India, both within the country and in the region. “He conveyed India’s desire to regularly share its perspectives with partners in the region and to work together with others to counter this challenge,” Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said.

The US, India and other participants are expected to hold conference calls every week, covering issues like cooperation on vaccine development, challenges for stranded citizens, assistance to countries in need and mitigating the impact on the global economy, said the MEA spokesperson.

“China held Video Conference on Prevention and Control of COVID-19 with the Eurasian and South Asia Region. Senior Indian officials and scientists from MOHFW (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) and MEA (of Government of India) and discussed efforts in combating the epidemic with Chinese counterparts,” Sun Weidong, Beijing’s envoy to New Delhi, tweeted.

The COVID-19 outbreak started from Wuhan in central China and now spread around the world turning into a pandemic. “China stands ready to cooperate with India in fighting the COVID-19 and provide support and assistance within our capacity,” tweeted Sun.

Pakistan also participated in the video-conference initiated by China.