The UAE was yesterday (March 30) singled out from the entire Arab world by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a global video conference on the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Modi held the video conference with the country's ambassadors worldwide, the first such event that was necessitated by the global Coronavirus outbreak.

 

The Prime Minister sought to know from Pavan Kapoor, India’s Ambassador to the UAE, the local "best practices, innovations, scientific breakthroughs and sources to procure medical equipment, for India’s fight against COVID-19," reported Emirati news agency Wam, citing a late night readout of the video conference proceedings by the Spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry, Raveesh Kumar.

 

Modi told Indian envoys that his government had taken unprecedented and early steps in response to this pandemic from mid-January this year. 

 

The objectives were to reduce the risk of importing the infection, and thereafter, to prevent a large outbreak, the report stated.

 

This included the world’s largest quarantine and lockdown, implemented by India, which is still under way.

 

The readout emphasized that "since this crisis also impacts on the economy, the Heads of India’s diplomatic missions should focus on ensuring commerce in essential supplies, logistics chains, remittances and so on through coordination with foreign partners."

 

Modi called upon the envoys to attend to Indians who remain abroad, given the uncertainty of continuing international travel restrictions.

 

The Prime Minister also asked the ambassadors to boost the morale of Indians abroad, and help them address issues arising from their unplanned stay in their countries of accreditation, with their host governments, and also to address other problems Indians might face overseas, including arranging shelter, where necessary and feasible.

 

Ten Ambassadors were chosen to brief Modi regarding the response in their countries of accreditation of the measures taken by India to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

The UAE was the only country chosen from all of the Arab world to give feedback at today’s video conference, said the Wam report.

 

The ambassadors "reported their efforts to identify medicine, medical devices, technologies, research and other measures which might help in India’s own national effort to fight this pandemic. 

 

They also reported lessons learned in their host countries and their best practices, in the global fight against Covid-19," the readout added.

 

Last week, HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, discussed with Modi the possibility of co-operation between entities in both countries which are in charge of combating pandemics, said the report.

 

In a phone call to Sheikh Mohamed, Modi brought up the prospects of jointly contributing to international efforts to stem the impact of Covid-19 on the humanitarian, health and economic fronts, it added.