US President Joe Biden on Tuesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for successfully handling the Covid pandemic in India, news avency PTI reported quoting a senior Indian official. Biden also referred to India's 'success' in contrast to China's 'failure' in handling the outbreak of coronavirus.
According to the report, President Biden praised PM Modi's efforts to combat the pandemic during a closed session of the Quad Summit in Tokyo. He also noted that Modi's success has shown the world that democracies can deliver better results and busted the myth that autocracies like China and Russia can handle the rapidly changing world better because their leadership can take and implement decisions without facing lengthy democratic processes, the official said. President Biden drew comparison between India and China and pointed out that both the countries are of comparable size, yet a democracy like India handled the pandemic better than its counterpart China.
Joe Biden praised PM Modi for handling the Covid pandemic "successfully in a democratic manner," said the official on condition of anonymity. As per the official, Biden’s remarks appeared to be random as he made a special intervention to say this before his prepared remarks.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also praised India for its contribution to deliver ‘Made in India vaccines’ under the Quad vaccine initiative . He also recalled that in Thailand and Cambodia, these vaccines were received with gratitude, the official added. Kishida also said Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen himself attended the handing over ceremony.
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According to the official, during the same closed session, newly elected Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese said vaccines delivered by India to other countries have brought a difference on the ground, and success like this is more valuable than just winning a theoretical debate of ideas.
The Quad leaders on Tuesday vowed to fight the virus by strengthening the global health architecture.
Last year, on March 21, the quad countries announced ‘the Quad vaccine partnership’ at its first summit.
On Monday, Prime Minister in his address to the Indian community in Tokyo, said that India has always found a solution, no matter how big the problem is. Recalling the pandemic, Modi said that there was an atmosphere of uncertainty, but even in such a situation India delivered ‘Made in India’ Vaccines to crores of its Citizens and also sent it to more than 100 countries.
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The Quad , includes countries like India, the US, Japan and Australia. This year the Quad Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan.