We must set aside politics and focus on facts: EAM S Jaishankar on COVID-19 crisis

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Friday, said that coronavirus pandemic has devastated country’s globalized economic system and has fundamentally affected the way everyone live, work, travel and relate to each other.

Speaking at a virtual ministerial meeting of Alliance for Multilateralism, Jaishankar further stressed that everyone must set aside politics and focus on facts to assess what changes country’s multilateral health mechanisms need to implement to improve preparations for a future pandemic.

“Today, once again, we stand at a transformative moment. A pandemic has devastated our globalized economic system; apart from taking a toll of over 4,00,000 lives, it has fundamentally affected the way we live, work, travel ans relate to each other,” he said.

‘World facing a two-pronged attack’

He said that the world stands at a “transformative moment”, adding it is facing a two-pronged attack of a pandemic and misinformation going viral.

“Suspicion of human interaction is fuelled, more often than not, by fake news, wrong information and targeted disinformation…So widespread are these phenomena today that we are truly facing a two-pronged attack of a viral pandemic and misinformation going viral. In other words, this is an era of both a health crisis and an infodemic,” he said.

“We must set aside politics and focus on facts whether it’s the effort to dispassionately analyze causes and drivers of current COVID-19 pandemic or to assess what changes our multilateral health mechanisms need to implement to improve preparations for a future pandemic,” he added.

‘Need to restore our faith in meaningful and equal partnerships’

The foreign minister further said that the resolution adopted at the World Health Assembly last month is an opportunity to use facts and science to assess our response to this pandemic and take those lessons to prepare better for the future, adding that as Chair of the WHO Executive Board, India is ready to work towards these goals.

“We need to restore our faith in meaningful and equal partnerships. Trust, partnership and cooperation draw people, societies and countries together especially during crises, particularly when fake news and disease engender isolationism and unilateralism,” he said.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India crossed five lakh-mark on Friday after the country reported its highest single-day spike of over 17,000 cases.