India should have taken cue from the East for COVID-19: Rajiv Bajaj to Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, June 04: Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj on Thursday said that India made a mistake by looking at the western countries while preparing its response to the coronavirus crisis with respect to the nationwide lockdown.

Rajiv said that there are many countries in the East which have fared better and India could have taken a hint from them prior imposing a lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.

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"I do not understand that despite being an Asian country, we sought not to look at what was happening in the East. We looked at the US, France, Italy, the UK etc. This is not a right benchmark in any sense," Bajaj said while having a conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"We all are aware that there cannot be any medical infrastructure that can be adequate to combat something like COVID-19," he added.

The Bajaj Auto MD further explained why the West matters a lot. Speaking to Rahul Gandhi, Bajaj said, "I think the perception is that if a developed country - like the US - or a developed continent like Europe can be affected by COVID-19, everyone is threatened."

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"When the rich and famous get affected, it makes headlines. Eight thousand children die of starvation in Africa every day, but who cares," Bajaj further added.

Meanwhile, it can be seen that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held such dialogue on April 30 when he discussed the coronavirus pandemic and its economic implications with former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.

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Gandhi later held a conversation with Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee who had said India should come out with a large enough stimulus package to revive demand.

Recently, Gandhi spoke to globally renowned public health experts Professor Ashish Jha of Harvard Global Health Institute and Swedish epidemiologist Johan Giesecke.