India has proposed the creation of an electronic platform for countries in South Asia to exchange information and expertise to counter the Coronavirus pandemic during a virtual conference of health professionals of eight countries in the region.
The proposal was put forth during a video conference meet of the health professionals from the member nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that took place on Thursday, a statement from the Indian foreign ministry said.
The health professionals meet was a follow-up to the virtual meeting of leaders of SAARC that took place earlier this month.
During Thursday’s video conference, India proposed the creation of an electronic platform for all SAARC nations to share and exchange information, knowledge, expertise and best practices for jointly combating the pandemic.
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During the meet, the Indian delegation conveyed to their counterparts that work had been done on the creation of a platform that could serve as a “multipurpose vehicle to further discuss and conduct activities such as online training for emergency response personnel, knowledge partnerships, sharing of expertise in disease surveillance, including the corresponding software, and joint research for new diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for epidemic diseases,” the Indian foreign ministry statement said.
The conference among health professionals and the creation of a fund to fight to pandemic were two proposals suggested by prime minister Narendra Modi during the SAARC leaders meet earlier this month. All eight member countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka besides India — participated in the conference that took place via video link. While Pakistan was represented by an official, the heads of government of all other countries took part in the meet.
Source: Livemint