China Gets Targeted in the Proposal on Corona Virus
A draft proposal is set to be submitted to the 73rd World Health Assembly to demand an investigation into where the corona virus originated.
India has also supported the move. Apart from India, the names of more than 100 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, African Group and its member countries, European Union and its member countries are among those who have seconded this proposal.
Let us tell you that the World Health Assembly, with 194 member countries, is the main policy-making body of the World Health Organization.
Every year in the World Health Assembly, these countries together review the work of this health agency of the United Nations and set its priorities for the coming year.
This time this meeting is going to be held on 18-19 th of May i.e. two days through video conferencing, in which this time the focus will be on the Kovid-19 epidemic.
This time the international response to this epidemic will be reviewed. There will also be questions as to how the WHO and its member countries handled the spread of the virus. This meeting is going to take place at a time when allegations and counter-allegations are going on between the US and China about the virus.
No country was named in the proposal
There is no mention of any country or place anywhere in this proposal seeking investigation to find out the origin of the virus, but the WHO has been urged to ‘objectively investigate the source of the zoonotic corona virus and find out as to how did this virus reach humans?’
It has been asked to check whether this virus came directly from animals in humans or there was some other link between them.
It has been said in the proposal that it should be seen whether the ‘intermediate host’ had a possible role. It has been said that scientists should think together.
No country has been named in this proposal, but US President Donald Trump has been directly accusing China. He even went so far as to say that he has seen evidence that the corona virus is made in China’s lab. However, America is not part of this proposal being presented in the World Health Assembly.
Australia is definitely part of this proposal. Its Prime Minister had demanded in the past that an independent and impartial investigation should be done to nail the country that has spread the Kovid-19 disease. Australia also demanded to investigate the role of China in spreading the virus.
But China described it as politically motivated and announced some restrictions on trade with Australia.
China Rejects Claims
China has been rejecting all these claims. Speaking to a private TV channel, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong had also said, “If China gave the first information about the virus, it does not mean that the virus originated from Wuhan.” Earlier, a Chinese diplomat also gave the theory that the US Army brought the virus to China.
However, the World Health Organization says that the current evidence indicates that this virus has come from animals and it has not been made or tampered with in the lab.
But the US does not agree with WHO. The US stopped the funding by accusing the World Health Organization of being biased towards China. He alleged that the WHO covered the spread of the virus from China.
However, WHO is an advisory body and does not have the power to pressure countries to share any information. There can also be talk of giving more power to the WHO in the assembly, so that they can go to countries and conduct independent investigations as soon as the outbreak begins.
The WHO also sent a team of scientists to China in January and February. But it was a joint mission with the Chinese authorities.
What does india say
Indian Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan is going to represent the country in this two-day World Health Assembly.
Earlier last week, Union Minister of India Nitin Gadkari, in a conversation with a News Channel, claimed that “It is not a natural virus, but an artificial one . It is prepared in the lab. Even scientists do not know. Doctors do not know.” Had it been a natural virus, our medical scientist or everyone would have known by now. It is a virus prepared in the lab. “
However, SD Muni, a South Asia expert, says that Nitin Gadkari did not name any country. He said that it could be made in the lab, but in whose lab it could have been made and how they came out of the lab, he did not claim.
What will be the effect on India-China relationship?
Will the support that India has given to the proposal have any effect on the relationship between India and China?
On this, SD Muni, who is a South Asia expert, says that China would object to this and there is already tension on many matters between the two countries, this issue may increase the tension between the two Asian giants.
They said that even though China has not been named in this proposal, but China will also be object in this investigation. “Where will the investigation take place? Most of the investigation will be focused on China. So China will have strict objection to this proposal to be presented in WHO.”
On the other hand, China affairs expert Geeta Kochhar told a news channel that she does not think that China will act so irresponsibly that there will be a rift in the relationship between India and China due to this proposal.
She says, “Because India is not saying that China has done this wrong. India has said that such a problem has come and we all should find out why and where this problem came from, so that we we can solve it in that way. India is not saying that China has done this to bring some harm to its people. All countries want to get rid of this problem. So, I do not think China will up its ante against India because of the latter’s move to WHO on the matter of holding the country responsible for the spread of Corona virus.
Indo-US Relationship
Geeta Kochhar says that if President Trump of America thinks that India has supported this proposal, then it is a good thing, because India has always supported the right things and will continue to do so.
Atul Bhardwaj, a research fellow at the City University of London, told that the US has been condemning the WHO a lot since the virus started. Now, when India is supporting this proposal, then it can be understood that India is supporting America, because India and America have very good relationship.
However, the sources say that WHO is an independent institution and if the proposal is passed, it will investigate independently.
“It would be wrong to say that only the name of China will come up in the investigation. It is also wrong to say that this investigation will be done by targeting China, because it raises questions about the entire investigation of the institution. China has also said that any investigation should be done in a fair and scientific manner. “
Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, says that the biggest challenge with this disease is that no country wants to take it on itself. Every country wants to say that this disease is not in its country and wants to reduce the statistics of deaths. “
Professor Sridhar says that the positive way to prevent such serious diseases is that WHO can send a technical international mission, whose task is not to accuse anyone or point fingers at anyone, but really find out where the virus originated and give the right advice to other countries.
