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NEW DELHI: State councilor and foreign minister of China Wang Yi spoke with S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India over the phone. The former urged India to not ostracize China in this hour of crisis.
China also hoped that India was “opposed” to the “narrow mindset” of using the phrase “China virus”
Jaishankar tweeted on the meeting:
https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1242407678372184064
It was US President Donald Trump who used the word “Chinese virus." China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang took exception to Trump using the term “Chinese virus” in a tweet to describe COVID-19.
Dismissing Beijing’s criticism for calling COVID-19 a “Chinese virus”, US President Donald Trump accused China of spreading false information about the US. “I didn’t appreciate the fact that China was saying that our military gave it to them,” Trump said. “Our military did not give it to anybody.” “China was putting out information, which was false,” he said.
He said, “Rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from; it did come from China. So, I think it’s a very accurate term.” COVID-19 originated in Wuhan in China.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a 21-day-long complete lock-down for the entire country till April 14 to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The lock-down will come into effect from 12am tonight. In his second address on the unprecedented menace, the Prime Minister said that all people should obey the government’s instruction for their own safety. Otherwise, the country will move backwards by 21 years, he warned. Citing the crises currently faced by Italy and the USA due to the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus Modi said, “I appeal to all our citizens with folded hands not to come out from their homes as the situation is very very alarming. We will fight against the pandemic and win against it. But for that your co-operation is necessary. We must break the virus chain.”