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 the phone to discuss the Coronavirus pandemic and the response of their respective countries to the same. Both leaders stressed the importance of international collaboration for fighting the health crisis, the Ministry of External Affairs said. The pandemic has so far infected close to a million people worldwide and killed over 49,000.

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

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

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Coronavirus crisis

Germany is one of the 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 the virus' spread. India, on the other hand, crossed the 2,000-mark on Thursday as the number of sick people surged, owing to the fallout of a gigantic religious gathering in Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz last month that soon proved to be a Coronavirus "super-spreader". The disease has also claimed at least 50 lives in the country.

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