India-China cooperation crucial to tackling COVID-19 outbreak, says Global Times

Cooperation between India and China was crucial to tackling the coronavirus outbreak, an opinion piece in Chinese daily Global Times.

"The two countries have a lot of room for cooperation in overcoming COVID-19, including the production of medical supplies, sharing experience in combating epidemics, and developing vaccines," said the piece on April 18.

Global Times, an English language newspaper, is published by People's Daily, which is owned by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

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The article, written by Qian Feng, commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to impose a nationwide lockdown, saying it achieved "remarkable results" but it also highlighted the problems caused by the restrictions.

"India's nationwide blockade has also resulted in several domestic problems, for instance, its medical institutions still lack medical hardware and resources," the article said.

India's lockdown began on March 25, and is to be lifted on May 18.

The article also highlighted the social and livelihood issues caused by the lockdown.

"However, the enforcement of the lockdown policy continues to cause several social and livelihood problems. For example, about 80 percent of the employed people in India make their living by working without legal protection, and assisting these people without social security is a challenge," the opinion piece said.