Amid criticism in both countries for their delayed response to Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump on Saturday decided to “deploy the full strength” of the bilateral partnership to fight the pandemic.
Modi announced this in a tweet after a telephone call with Trump: “Had an extensive conversation with President @realDonaldTrump. We had a good discussion, and agreed to deploy the full strength of the India-US partnership to fight Covid-19.”
This is the first time the two have spoken since Trump’s India visit in February-end, by which time coronavirus had been declared a “public health emergency of international concern” by the World Health Organisation.
Yet, the two did not practise physical distancing, hugging and shaking hands multiple times. A public rally attended by a lakh-plus gathering was held for Trump in Ahmedabad.
