Jaishankar defends India’s Covid response at London meet

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A combative External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has stoutly defended India’s response to the second wave of Covid-19 pointing out that the government has left no stone unturned, including mobilising massive international support to tide over the unprecedented crisis.</p>
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Speaking in London at an event organised by India Inc. titled "Does India Have A Plan-From Survival to Revival,” Jaishankar explained that India had already overcome the first wave of Covid-19, tailored its plans accordingly, and therefore fell short when the unexpected second wave of coronavirus hit the country. He then went into details about the 75 years of neglect of the Indian healthcare system and how it was now being rectified. The minister also spoke about India’s international vaccine commitments, and the overwhelming international response of help once the crisis peaked.</p>
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Our healthcare system stands exposed, very clear that over 75 yrs we've underinvested in health. Maybe there were reasons, it's very easy to say you should've put in more money. Now that I'm in govt I can tell you it's not as easy as it sounds: EAM at Global Dialogue Series <a href="https://t.co/VntWooFXlV">pic.twitter.com/VntWooFXlV</a></p>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1389856752435220491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Jaishankar said that it was not fair to accuse the government of being complacent. “At the end of February, we were looking at less than 10,000 cases and now it is at 3.80 lakh. At the end of March if you took the parameters of the districts that reported 100 or more cases, it was at 75. In a month's time the number went up to 456 such districts. We have to understand the intensity of the situation,” he said. </p>
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The minister pointed out that during the first wave, the Indian government took the “painful” decision to lockdown but a very effective one. “Till the second wave, there were repeated advises that were going out to the states. There were public health teams that were sent out. Due to the concerns generated by the first wave, there were efforts to ramp up oxygen supply and the government had authorised more than 1,200 oxygen plants.”</p>
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Besides, “the mood of the country was to get the economy back on track and I really cannot think that this is genuinely not a blame game”.</p>
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Referring to the second wave, Jaishankar acknowledged that it caught India by surprise. “We had a lockdown last year as we were not prepared for the pandemic. But then we were accused that it was being done because of the anti-CAA protests. Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.”</p>
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On current vaccine shortage, Jaishankar said that Covishield, manufactures by Serum Institute of India (SII) was made in India as it was found that the country was capable of manufacturing in large numbers. “The fact that this vaccine is an international collaboration. If someone gave you the vaccine to make in India, then there are international obligations… We have an obligation to give the vaccines at a low cost to many nations”.</p>
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"We have a process within the government about the obligations and consumption. In addition to this we also had our immediate neighbours in mind and an effort was made to strike that balance. We kept the balance as far as we could. As our own demands mounted, the other countries did understand this concern.” </p>
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Jaishankar recounted that the raw material inflow to expand production was not coming as there were various factors. “Vaccine is a complex product. There are 300 countries from where we source to put the vaccination together. We have been pressing countries to keep the raw material flow open.”</p>
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Referring to India’s inadequate health sector, Jaishankar explained that for 75 years, the health sector in the country has been “uninvested” and in fact due to this realisation Prime Minister, Narendra Modi pushed for Ayushman Bharat. Modi genuinely believed that we cannot leave our people to the vagaries of the private practitioners.  “Having said that we have underinvested in our health sector over many decades. Even though there are limitations, we have to make an extra effort to respond to the crisis.” </p>
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The minister thanked all nations who are coming to India's help. The UK government is sending oxygen, the US President Joe Biden said that he is changing the policy as India stood by them in the early days. There has been a lot of oxygen supplies coming from the Gulf. Their leaders tell us that India kept the supply lines open when the pandemic broke out. Almost all G7 nations have gone through what we are going through.</p>
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“The pandemic is not a game changer; it is a thought changer. It has shown darker sides of people. However, I am optimistic and I am more interested in the warmer side of people. I see there is a warmth in diplomacy,” the minister said.</p>