Hello
SAARC - a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - has not been very effective since 2016.
The second awareness video of SNIHRA posted on its official Facebook page contains short but crucial messages from prominent personalities from various walks of life.
India has assured all friendly neighbouring countries of all possible assistance to help them fight the pandemic. New Delhi has also been playing a key role in pushing for a common framework in dealing with the crisis.
Just days after the Centre amended the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy to check opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, China on Monday criticised the move and said that it violates the World Trade Organizations principle of non-discrimination.
As of Wednesday, there are over 19,000 coronavirus cases in SAARC countries and as many as 565 deaths. India constitutes 60 per cent of infections here and 70 per cent of all deaths, followed by Pakistan (30 per cent of all cases, 16 per cent of all deaths).
The video conference was a brilliant Indian initiative at a time when countries around the world should forget their differences and unite in a joint fight against the biggest health threat faced by the world in the last hundred years.
Even as nations fenced their borders and imposed stringent measures, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.
Modi proposed setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund with India committing $10 million initially for it, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.