PM holds video-conference with 130 Indian missions abroad on COVID-19

Extraordinary times require extraordinary solutions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a video conference on Monday with 130 Indian missions abroad while referring to the 21-day nationwide lockdown to fight coronavirus.

In a nearly 75-minute interaction, Modi said India had taken "unprecedented" and early steps from mid-January to reduce the risk of importing the coronavirus infection and prevent a large outbreak.

He said it included the world's largest quarantine and lockdown, according to the ministry of external affairs.

"The prime minister noted that extraordinary times require extraordinary solutions, which was why even in this globalised era, most of the world had quarantined itself," it said.

Modi termed said the lockdown as an unavoidable step to fight the pandemic, adding it was hugely consequential as the closure of the globalised system has had an extensive and far-reaching impact upon the international transport system, financial markets and the global economy.

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