PM Modi, Angela Merkel discuss COVID-19 pandemic; stress on global efforts to fight crisis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel over phone to discuss  Coronavirus pandemic and response of ir respective countries to same. Both leers stressed importance of international collaboration for fighting health crisis, Ministry of External Affairs said. pandemic has so far infected close to a million people worldwide and killed over 49,000.

PM Modi and Chancellor Merkel "shared views on inequate availability of medicines and medical equipment required during pandemic, and agreed to explore avenues of cooperation in this regard," an MEA statement said. Both leers agreed that  COVID-19 pandemic is an important turning point in modern history and "offers an opportunity to forge a new vision of globalisation focused on shared interests of humanity as a whole".

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PM Modi informed Merkel about recent Indian initiatives to disseminate simple yoga exercises and immunity-enhancing Ayurvedic remedies for people across world. Chancellor agreed that such practices could be very beneficial for enhancing psychological and physical health, especially under present lockdown conditions, MEA stated.

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Coronavirus crisis

Germany is one of hardest-hit countries in Europe, with reported COVID-19 cases over 80,000. It has also reported nearly a thousand deaths so far and is struggling to contain virus' spre. India, on or hand, crossed 2,000-mark on Thursday as number of sick people surged, owing to  fallout of a gigantic religious garing in Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz last month that soon proved to be a Coronavirus "super-spreer". disease has also claimed at least 50 lives in country.

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