Coronavirus: The Linchpin to the Revival of SAARC

Open Access

Abstract

The coronavirus that began from China has rapidly spread to almost all the countries of the world except in the region of Antarctica. The World Health Organization (WHO) declares it as a pandemic, and the whole world is at red alert. The pandemic virus with such magnitude recognizes no political borders thereby making it a global crisis. To curtail the catastrophic impact that the spread of the pandemic virus will cause in the South Asian region, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mooted the idea for video conferencing with all the heads of the eight members of the SAARC to be held on March 15, 2020. The objective of the conference was to collectively outline a strong strategy to combat the challenges laid down by the virus which primarily meant to be agile and take precautionary measures in advance in order to stop its spread. Furthermore, it was to lay down plans to strengthen the existing infrastructure as well as create new infrastructures to deal with the infected cases.