P Chidambaram tweeted on coronavirus this morning. (File)
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said that India's video conference with other SAARC nations - Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka - on Sunday over coronavirus pandemic has "left us no wiser". Calling for a "bolder leadership" from the state governments on the outbreak, which has spread to 143 countries, Mr Chidambaram said "firmer steps" should be taken to curb the spread.
"Government must pay attention to the rate of increase of the number of infections. The rate is quite worrying," the 74-year-old former union minister said in a series of tweets.
In another post - tagging the chief minister of Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, he wrote: "If the central government is slow to act, state governments must show bolder leadership and announce firmer steps appropriate to the state concerned. @uddhavthackeray @ArvindKejriwal @EPSTamilNadu."
On Sunday's SAARC conference, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the creation of an emergency fund with "voluntary contributions" to counter the novel coronavirus, he said: "While the SAARC meeting was welcome, government must pay heed to the warnings of WHO and ICMR, and now Dr Devi Shetty. Government must consider partial to total lockdown of many towns and cities."
"Yesterday I had asked the government to consider stronger and more determined measures to combat COVID 19. We got a video conference that left us no wiser," he tweeted.
On Sunday, during a telephonic conversation with SAARC leaders, PM Modi stressed on evolving a joint strategy to fight the outbreak of the novel coronavirus or COVID 19, which has killed more than 5,000 people worldwide.
India, PM Modi said, has made special efforts to reach out to groups vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus and worked to quickly ramp up capacity in the system including through training of medical staff.
"'Prepare, but don't panic' has been our guiding mantra. We have to avoid knee-jerk reactions," the Prime Minister said, adding that the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region has so far seen 150 cases. "But we need to remain vigilant," he said.
In India, COVID 19 - which originated at a meat market in China's Wuhan city - has killed two people, infected over 100. In a series of stringent steps, government has suspended most visas till April 15. Malls, schools have been temporarily shut, large gatherings are being discouraged in several cities.