In a digital assembly with Indian ambassadors and excessive commissioners posted the world over, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday conveyed the message that the “one-sided” narrative in worldwide media — that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his authorities had failed the nation by their “incompetent” dealing with of the second Covid-19 wave — should be countered.
The assembly got here within the wake of robust editorials, commentary and experiences in main worldwide newspapers such because the New York Times, Guardian, Le Monde, and Straits Times, and on TV channels, blaming the Modi authorities for ignoring warning indicators, holding an prolonged election in West Bengal, and for not cancelling the Kumbh Mela.
International TV channels have run visuals of ready ambulances and sufferers exterior hospitals, and cremations in Delhi and elsewhere, to underline India’s lack of preparedness.
The official “context” for Thursday’s assembly was India’s efforts to mobilise assets, together with oxygen container, concentrators, ventilators, medication and vaccines, from international locations which have supplied assist as the federal government struggles with the surge of circumstances, in accordance with officers current within the assembly.
Besides the envoys, Minister of State V Muraleedharan, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla and officers coping with the Covid-19 disaster additionally attended the hour-long assembly.
Officials current stated two huge themes had been mentioned. One was about efforts being made to obtain all the fabric that India wants to beat the surge. The envoys had a number of questions on ship this, to locations in India the place such materials must be despatched, customs formalities, and associated issues of logistics.
Taking management of the worldwide media narrative was the opposite predominant theme. On this, members stated the message from Jaishankar was to not get overpowered by the “negative” media experiences however to take cost and undertaking the federal government’s facet of the story.
Accordingly, the members had been advised that the ferocity of the second surge was one thing no public well being professional on the earth had predicted, and that well being infrastructure even in essentially the most superior international locations had crumbled within the first wave final 12 months, so this was not a catastrophe that was uniquely Indian.
The envoys had been advised that oxygen scarcity was not on account of a shortfall in manufacturing however on account of restricted geographies of manufacturing, entailing transport throughout huge distances. The members had been additionally advised to disseminate that there might be no connection between the elections, marketing campaign rallies and the spike in numbers.
Jaishankar offered the argument that the numbers had been highest in Maharashtra and Delhi, two states that didn’t go to the polls.
He didn’t contact upon the topic of Kumbh Mela, which has been been described in each worldwide report as a “super spreader” occasion.
Although the collaborating diplomats had questions, nobody requested concerning the penalties of holding the Kumbh. Nor had been there any questions concerning the messaging from crowded election rallies addressed by the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah, in violation of social distancing norms, or any of the institutional failures identified by the worldwide media.
Jaishankar additionally didn’t contact upon Vaccine Maitri, underneath which India shipped 66 million vaccines to different nations. None of the members requested about this both.
Among options made by envoys was that there was no must counter each media criticism with a rebuttal of the sort written by the deputy excessive commissioner to Australia in response to ‘The Australian’ report headlined “Modi Leads India out of lockdown…and into Covid apocalypse”.
