India Tried to Walk the Talk Amid COVID: Modi at Raisina Dialogue

His remarks come as many states of India report an acute shortage of vaccines, and the pandemic surges.

PM Narendra Modi. Image used for representation.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@BJP4India)

Addressing the Raisina Dialogue, India’s flagship programme on geopolitics via video conferencing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 13 April, said that this edition of the dialogue takes place at “a watershed moment in human history”.

“A global pandemic has been ravaging the world for over a year,” pointed out PM Modi.

He went on to say that during the pandemic, India has “in our own humble way”, attempted to “walk the talk”.

“We have tried to protect our own 1.3 billion citizens from the pandemic At the same time, we have also tried to support pandemic response efforts of others.”   

PM Modi also said: “We understand fully, that mankind will not defeat the pandemic unless all of us, everywhere, regardless of the colour of our passports, come out of it.”

This why, the PM claimed, India has supplied vaccines to over 80 countries.

His remarks come as many states of India report an acute shortage of vaccines, a shocking surge in COVID-19 cases, and a growing backlash over the vaccines exported to other countries before most of our own population was vaccinated.

More Remarks By PM

PM Modi further talked about the significance of Planet Earth and said:

“While we may be used to having “Plan A” and “Plan B”, there is no Planet B. Only Planet Earth. And so, we must remember that we hold this planet merely as trustees for our future generations.”

He also said that we have often asked ourselves how to prevent a third world war, but that is the “wrong question”.

The right questions, as per the PM, could have included:

“Why do we have famines and hunger? Why do we have poverty? Or, most fundamentally, why can’t we cooperate to address problems that threaten the entire humanity?”

More About Raisina Dialogue

The sixth edition of the Raisina dialogue will take place from 13 to 16 April. It is being conducted virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The dialogue is slated to have a total of 50 sessions with participation of 150 speakers from 50 countries and multilateral organisations, reported PTI, citing the organisers.

The dialogue is jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Observer Research Foundation.