Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, 19 October, delivered a keynote address at the 16th Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 and said that India has one of the highest recovery rates – 88 percent, because it was one of the first countries to adopt a flexible lockdown.
PM Modi also said: “India's size, scale and diversity have always made the global community curious. Our population is almost four times that of the USA. Many of our states are as populated as other nations in Europe and Asia. Thanks to people power and people-driven approach, India kept its COVID-19 death rate very low,” reported NDTV.
He further stated that it took a global pandemic to make people realise the importance of teamwork.
Prime Minister Modi went on to say that India was one of the first to encourage the use of masks.
“India actively began to work on effective contact tracing. India was among the earliest nations to deploy the Rapid Antigen test,” said PM Modi.
During the virtual conference, Prime Minister Modi also talked about the future of science and innovation.
“The future will be shaped by societies that invest in science and innovation. But, this cannot be done in a short-sighted manner. One has to invest in science and innovation well in advance,” the Prime Minister said.
“That is when we can reap benefits at the right time,” said PM Modi, reported Hindustan Times.
The 16th Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 was supposed to be held in India.
Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates also addressed the event, where he talked about the COVID-19 pandemic and how different scientists are working towards developing the vaccine for the virus, reported Hindustan Times.
Thanking PM Modi for speaking at the Grand Challenge meeting, Gates tweeted saying: “India’s research and manufacturing capacity are critical for fighting COVID-19.”
The event is being co-hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and will feature many leaders for talks, panel discussions and virtual conversations on a variety of topics.
(With inputs from NDTV and Hindustan Times)
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