Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri Photo: Yin Yeping/GT

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said that India has taken proactive measures and capacities available within the country to tackle COVID-19, and there is considerable space for India and China to cooperate in controlling the pandemic, but an expert noted that the fulfillment of social distancing in India is not thorough and has seen limited effects. 

India has seen an increased surge of domestic cases of COVID-19 recently and confirmed more than 10,000 cases and 60 deaths as of Tuesday amid coronavirus infections around the world approaching 2 million, data showed.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Tuesday an extension of the nationwide lockdown on the country until May 3. 

"The major difference between India's lockdown and that of China is that India is dealing with similar sized outbreaks in more than one state, and that COVID-19 cases are largely localized with 78 out of nearly 750 districts in the country," Ambassador Misri said in a video news conference on Tuesday.

Therefore, India has to focus simultaneously on a number of areas and can't actually deploy medical resources and healthcare professionals from different parts of the country to one place like China did at its critical phase, he said. 

Misri noted that India has taken proactive measures, such as hygiene measures, social distancing, suspension of international flights and visas, to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, specifying that the country has deployed nearly 520 converted hospitals with 85,000 isolation beds, 8,500 ICU beds, and also prepared 5,570 additional health facilities.

However, some questioned that India having a relatively low number of infected cases is due to it not having the capacity and enough test kits to do proper mass screening. 

Some are even concerned that India might become the next epicenter of the pandemic, particularly since Asia's largest slum, Dharavi in India's Mumbai, has reported its first case of COVID-19 on April 2.

Misri responded that India has the capacities available within the country in terms of hospitals, ICU beds and other medical protective equipment for testing and domestic capacity in tackling COVID-19, although he admitted that it also needs to procure goods and facilities from abroad.

Experts also questioned the chaos and widespread hunger of migrant workers becoming jobless due to the poor lockdown preparation and weak measures taken by the Modi administration, reducing the effectiveness of such restrictions and spreading the virus further.

Lan Jianxue, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday that India is correct to keep social distancing, but the fulfillment is not thorough and effects still limited. 

"Not like the strict community administration, sufficient living material allocation and deliveries in Chinese cities under lockdown, rural areas and mass gatherings of people in impoverished areas mean India cannot achieve a strong quarantine effect," Lan said. 

The ambassador stated that India has set up 27,000 relief camps for 1.25 million individuals and allotted $22 billion to alleviate the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable, including farmers, laborers and workers. According to Misri, a further 7.5 million individuals are being assisted through such camps as well as at other food distribution points.

Chinese officials have said they are willing to share experiences in fighting COVID-19 with India and provide possible aid in combating the virus, but there have been growing calls to boycott Chinese products from some Indian netizens. 

Misri said that there is considerable space for India and China to cooperate in controlling the spread of the pandemic given the size and position of the two countries, which he mentioned immediate short term as well as medium- and long-term aspects to their cooperation.

The ambassador noted that on the medium- to long-term basis, India appreciates efforts from the Chinese government to put in place mechanisms to ensure the quality of goods that are being exported out of China.

The two foreign ministers have spoken via phone on more than one occasion regarding China and India's joint cooperation against the outbreak, said Misri, noting that India "also looks forward to continuing their assistance and cooperation, not just with the central government, but also with various provincial governments."

 "China and India are neighbors and should share weal and woe … If India requests assistance from China, we should offer more help to India," Lan said, suggesting China facilitate convenience for India to procure Chinese-made medical products. 
Newspaper headline: India ‘prepared’ to face case rise