PM Modi to chair SAARC meeting on COVID 19 as host; Pakistan also an invitee
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New Delhi, Feb 18: India is all set to host the virtual Health Secretary-level meeting with the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), on Feb 18, 2021. During the meeting the members are to discuss the ongoing COVID 19 crisis. Among the other Asian states, Pakistan has also been invited to attend the meeting.
The SAARC virtual meeting has been held with an aim to discuss the challenges and development associated with the COVID 19 management and response to the pandemic. The member countries will exchange the best practices with respect to the ongoing pandemic. The initiative aims to mitigate the risks associated with the corona virus pandemic in the South Asian region. India will be contributing USD 10 million for the initiative.
During a video conference of the SAARC Heads of State that was held in Mar 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also proposed a Corona virus Emergency Fund COVID 19 crisis. for the SAARC region. The Corona virus Emergency Fund was set up by the SAARC members as a response to the COVID 19 pandemic. The emergency fund was created with the aim of mitigating the risks associated with the COVID 19 pandemic in the entire South Asian region. India had already proposed to contribute USD 10 million for the fund. Other member countries of the SAARC also supported the move of creating the fund proposed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India has always been and will also be seen ahead at the forefront in the fight against the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. The country has emerged with the highest number of vaccinations. Therefore, India is also at the forefront in providing the indigenously developed COVID 19 vaccines to the countries either as gift or on commercial line. India has recently gifted five lakh doses of COVID 19 vaccines to Afghanistan, 20 lakh doses to Bangladesh, 17 lakh doses to Myanmar, 5 lakh doses to Sri Lanka, 1.5 lakh doses to Bhutan, 1 lakh doses to each of Mauritius and Maldives, 10 lakh doses to Nepal and 50 thousand doses to Seychelles.