Jaishankar calls for greater cooperation between Indo-Pacific countries to tackle Covid-19
External affairs minister S Jaishankar made the remarks during his address to the inaugural session of the Indo-Pacific Business Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the ministry of external affairs.
India is coming out of the second wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and will witness a strong economic recovery, Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday. He also called for greater cooperation between countries in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and assured that India would be an “engine of growth” for the global economy.
The minister made the remarks during his address to the inaugural session of the Indo-Pacific Business Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the ministry of external affairs.
“India is coming out of the second wave and will witness a strong economic recovery. It will be a more dynamic and friendlier business destination. We will contribute to being an engine of growth for the global economy and we will be very much a part of the more reliable and resilient supply chains that the post Covid world requires,” Jaishankar said.
In his address, Jaishankar also said that the pandemic disrupted supply chains across the globe, negatively impacted manufacturing and has also made international trade unpredictable.
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“Globalised production networks remain vulnerable and fragile, with global merchandise trade falling by 5.6% in 2020, compared to 2019, and the predicted trade and services declining by as much as 15.4% in the same duration. This decline in merchandise trade is the sharpest since 2009, whereas the decline in services trade is the biggest since 1990,” he said.
Stressing on the need for international collaboration to improve public health, the minister said that the collaboration between not just governments but businesses and medical and scientific professions is needed.
“Prime Minister Modi has called for adopting ‘one earth, one health’ approach at the recent G7 summit, where India was a guest. We need meaningful partnerships, sharing of advanced technologies, collaboration in vaccine and pharma production, cap building and transparency in health information and in all of this, the role of our private sectors is critical,” he further said.
He also said that Covid-19 has made people much more digital and along with it the risks too have magnified. “The strengthening of digital connectivity, both within and between the countries of the Indo-Pacific, is an essential condition for our economic prosperity and development. Like-minded countries must work together for data driven digital dev partnerships,” the minister said.
“High speed internet, cyber security, enhanced digital literacy, deeper technical cooperation, regional e-commerce and efficient e-governance will have a more salient place in the conversations of the coming days,” he added.
The pandemic, he said, brought three major issues to the fore namely, the salience of health, the power of the digital and the importance of building or rebuilding greener. He also said this is a time to introspect on how to build greener, as the pandemic has slowed down the global economy.
“Physical and digital connectivity remain important for supporting shorter, efficient and diversified supply chains, risk mitigation, enhanced trade facilitation and reduction in the cost of intra-regional trade,” Jaishankar said.
He also assured that the Indian government has taken many measures to improve public health, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
