Covid-19 origin: India says WHO-convened study 'an important step'
Premium- The International Council of Jurists on Friday urged the Director-General of the WHO to release all scientific and medical information regarding Covid
The External Affairs Ministry on Friday said that the WHO-convened global study on the origins of Covid-19 was 'an important step' and that the follow up of the report and further studies deserved understanding and cooperation of all.
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In a statement, the MEA said: "The WHO convened global study on the origin of Covid-19 is an important first step. It stressed the need for next phase studies as also for further data and studies to reach robust conclusions."
"The follow up of the WHO report and further studies deserve the understanding and cooperation of all," it said.
This came on the day the International Council of Jurists (ICJ) urged the Director-General of the WHO to release all scientific and medical information regarding Covid in the light of reports that the virus had originated from a laboratory in Wuhan and not from the 'wet market', hitherto believed by all countries.
On May 27, the US Intelligence Department said that there were two likely scenarios on the origin of Covid-19. It said the intelligence community has coalesced around two likely scenarios: "Either it (virus) emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals or it was a laboratory accident".
The statement released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence further said that while two elements of the intelligence community "lean toward the former scenario and one leans more toward the latter — each with low or moderate confidence — the majority of elements within the IC do not believe there is sufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other".
A day before, US President Joe Biden asked the intelligence department to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information (on Covid origin) that could bring the country closer to a definitive conclusion.
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