External Minister S Jaishankar during the ‘Future of Asia’ Conference

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Thursday, pushed for enhancing supply chain capabilities to “de-risk” the world economy. Speaking at the ‘Future of Asia’ conference, he said that nobody had anticipated the magnitude of the second wave that hit India.

“You have to really understand how dramatically the second wave unfolded. From 10,000 a day till the end of February, within a matter of weeks, the cases rose up to 4,00,000 a day. That is a 40 times increase,” said Jaishankar, adding, “It is not like people didn’t think of a second wave... most modelling focused on a second wave being something more than the first wave. Nobody saw a four times wave coming at us as the second wave.”

While there is much debate over whether if the Modi government was forewarned of a massive second wave and if appropriate preparations were made to tackle the upcoming crisis, the minister said that there was no such information or assessment. He also spoke of the need to enhance vaccine productions and supply chain resilience in order to be able to deliver the vaccine to the world.

“Vaccine production is important. It is important that the global supply chain delivers if we are to expand vaccine production. It is under discussion. The conversation between the developed and the developing is to make vaccines accessible, affordable,” he said.

Referring to the need to waive the intellectual property on COVID-19 related interventions, he spoke of how the international community is at least warming up to the idea of a waiver for the Covid vaccine. “The world has to vaccinate its way out of the pandemic. Vaccine production is a big challenge. South Africa and India had led an initiative to make exceptions to the patent regime in order to expand vaccination and the US has actually responded to it with an open mind. It is an ongoing conversation and it will include other countries as well,” he said.

Acknowledging the aid and assistance that is coming into India to handle the Covid crisis, he said, “We in India actually are experiencing tremendous international generosity. As we struggle with the second wave, we find the world standing by us. They are addressing some of our immediate needs, especially on the oxygen front, drugs like Remdesivir, which have seen a spike in demand. We have got exceptional support from across the world, US has been notable in that regard.”

In his address he spelled out four ways by which COVID-19 is reshaping the world that includes bringing out the value of trust and transparency and the importance of reliable supply chains, heightening risk aversion in a world now clearly more insecure and encouraging strategic autonomy to address over-dependence, focusing on the need to create greater global capacities so that pandemic-scale challenges are more effectively met, and by doing so promoting decentralised globalisation and establishing resilient supply chains to de-risk the world economy

Calling it a “black swan” event, the minister said that while some facets of a very complex challenge has been addressed, it continues its devastating course across geographies. “We, in India, are going through a particularly difficult situation right now... What perhaps is yet to be fully comprehended is its long-term impact on the global order, including on the future of Asia,” he said.