NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday raised five proposals to prepare countries in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region to manage future medical emergencies, including a special visa scheme for medical personnel, an air ambulance service for the region and technology-driven steps to counter any future health emergencies or pandemic.
Prime Minister Modi proposed the measures in a video message to a virtual workshop on "Covid-19 Management: Experience, good practices and way forward". The workshop was organised by India for representatives from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Officials and experts from Mauritius and Seychelles were also a part of the workshop.
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka are among the members' countries of the SAARC who participated in the workshop.
SAARC leaders had joined in on a meeting last year in March which was organized by India for a coordinated response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Pakistan too had joined last year's meeting and joined the latest workshop after a long gap.
According to reports, all the countries, including Pakistan, supported the five proposals and proposed a structured discussion on regional cooperation to take them forward.
The other participating countries, except Pakistan, thanked India for supplying vaccines, medicines and equipment amid the pandemic. Pakistan hasn't requested vaccines from India.
Prime Minister Modi also noted that the region has seen significant success over the past year in health cooperation and said that the countries should come together as the time has come for the countries to "think of raising our ambition further".
He also suggested the 10 SAARC member countries should consider creating a special visa program for doctors and nurses so that medical personnel can travel quickly within the region during health emergencies. He also added that the civil aviation ministries should coordinate on a regional air ambulance agreement for medical emergencies.
The Prime Minister also suggested creating a regional platform for conducting research on the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines among the population of countries which are using vaccines from India. He further suggested creating a regional network for promoting technology-driven epidemiology for preventing future pandemics.
Modi also suggested that the countries could share their successful public health policies and schemes and proposed India's Aayushman Bharat and Jan Arogya schemes as case studies for the region.
PM Modi mentioned that countries in the region met the challenges brought forth by the Covid-19 pandemic with a coordinated response after "many experts voiced special concern about our densely populated region". He added that South Asia was among the first regions to come together in recognising the threat and committing to fight it together.
The Prime Minister added that the countries in the region generated a Covid-19 emergency response fund and shared resources, equipment and knowledge. He said that "this spirit of collaboration" is an important lesson from the pandemic. He further added that the countries "through our openness and determination" have managed to achieve the lowest fatality rates in the world.
He added that the countries should maintain the "same cooperative and collaborative spirit" as "the hopes of our region and the world are focused on rapid deployment of vaccines."
PM Modi further said collaboration on healthcare and medical issues could "become the pathway for greater regional cooperation among us in other areas too".
Indicating Pakistan, the Prime Minister said, "After all, we share so many common challenges – climate change, natural disasters, poverty, illiteracy, and social and gender imbalances – but we also share the power of centuries-old cultural and people-to-people linkages. If we focus on all that unites us, our region can overcome not only the present pandemic but our other challenges too."
PM Modi further added that to make the 21st century the Asian century, it would require greater cooperation among countries in the South Asia and the Indian Ocean regions. He said that the countries have worked together well during the pandemic and the "spirit of regional solidarity" was proof that all of these countries work well together.
The workshop was presided by India's health secretary Rajesh Bhushan. The other countries were represented by health officials and head of technical teams in-charge of Covid-19 management.
So far, India has supplied more than 23 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to more than 20 countries around the world. India has plans to roll out more doses to different regions of the world in the coming weeks.