India's reputation as the pharmacy of the world may have been enhanced by providing medicines to more than 150 countries to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, but the goodwill that it has created is even more, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar has said.
Also read: India’s island diplomacy gains momentum
"My message is a simple one: in times of trouble, we stand with our people; we will do what it takes for their welfare; and this government will deliver," the Minister said in his keynote address at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Virtual Conference, titled 'Forging Media and Entertainment Partnerships to showcase India@75', on Wednesday.
Jaishankar said the Modi government has also put in place perhaps the largest repatriation exercise in history. "If 3 million of our people came back to India through the Vande Bharat Mission, we also facilitated the return of more than 100,000 foreign citizens to their homes. Many of them were pravasis, too," he said.
The state machinery was pressed fully into service, whether it was Air India, the Armed Forces, or embassies and consulates abroad, or the government at home, he added.
The Minister expressed his disappointment with certain media projections abroad of developments in India. "On the ground, the delivery of financial and material assistance to the most vulnerable was done on a remarkable scale (to deal with pandemic challenges). Yet, it was a story less than fairly captured when it came to the media abroad. Yes, in the end, the truth will always come out. But a more effective and accurate projection of our policies and record is clearly a pressing need," he said.