India refrains from calling out China but says WHO team probing Covid-19 origin should be given access to data

India chose to tread cautiously apparently because its relations with China continued to be in a delicate stage

India on Thursday refrained from calling out China but took note of the recent revelation by the World Health Organization (WHO) that its investigators had experienced difficulties in accessing raw data while studying the origin of the Covid-19 virus in the communist country.

“It is pertinent to note that the WHO Director-General has separately raised the issue of delays and difficulties in accessing raw data for the team conducting the study (on the origin of the Covid-19),” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement issued in New Delhi.

India’s statement came two days after the United States and the 13 other nations jointly expressed concern over delay and difficulties experienced by the WHO experts in accessing “complete, original data and samples” while probing the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in China.

“We fully support the Director-General’s expectation that future collaborative studies will include more timely and comprehensive data sharing,” Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the MEA, stated. “In this connection,” he added, “We (Government of India) also welcome his (WHO chief’s) readiness to deploy additional missions.”

Also read: WHO and China: A healthy relationship?

New Delhi, however, avoided directly calling out Beijing for not adequately cooperating with the WHO team that visited Wuhan in central China – the ground zero of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada and Israel are among the 13 nations that joined the US on Tuesday to nudge China to grant the WHO investigators full access to all pertinent human, animal, and environmental data, research, and personnel involved in the early stages of the outbreak relevant to determining how the pandemic emerged.

“With all data in hand, the international community may independently assess Covid-19 origins, learn valuable lessons from this pandemic, and prevent future devastating consequences from outbreaks of disease,” the 14-nations said in a joint statement issued on Tuesday.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

India, however, chose to tread cautiously apparently because its relations with China continued to be in a delicate stage as the military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations could not be completely resolved yet.

“We join other stakeholders in voicing their expectations that follow up to the WHO Report or further studies, including on an understanding of the earliest human cases and clusters by the WHO on this critical issue, will receive the fullest cooperation of all concerned,” said the MEA spokesperson.