Schwab hails India's policy in COVID-19 fight; says 'has potential to shape global agenda'

Founder and Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab on Sunday hailed India's strong policy response to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Exuding confidence over India's power to shape the global agenda, Schwab said the country now has the opportunity in leapfrogging to a more digital and sustainable economy.

Schwab, who founded WEF 50 years ago, further asserted that he remains optimistic about India as the country continues its quest to build a stronger and more equal nation. He also added that the entire world will watch India for inspiration.

READ | India economy on verge of slow recovery as worst is over: PHDCCI

'India has the power to shape the global agenda'

"With its demographic advantage and extensive diversity, India has the power to shape the global agenda and define our collective future," Schwab told news agency PTI in an interview from Geneva where the World Economic Forum (WEF) is based.

READ | Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India's tally at 78 lakhs; recoveries cross 70 lakh mark

He continued to praise India for its early strong policies to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. He stated that India has put in place an early lockdown, distributed large-scale food rations to over 800 million people who were at the risk of starvation and supported small businesses by giving collateral-free credit.

"But what it couldn't prevent is that this pandemic has put millions of informal workers, low-income migrant workers and daily-wage earners in a state of extreme insecurity. Protecting their lives and livelihoods is the prime concern today, as it could lead to an even deeper, humanitarian crisis on the back of the ongoing public health crisis," Schwab said.

Schwab further added that as India focuses on building a better future post the pandemic, "its greatest opportunity probably lies in its efforts to leapfrog to a more digital and sustainable economy". During his interview, he also said the world is at a turning point for humanity today.

"COVID-19 is the most devastating and immediate crisis we are facing, but we are equally going through the worst environmental crisis in human history as well. And socio-economically, the division and inequalities we are facing are the worst in a generation," he said.

READ | 53,370 new cases take India's COVID-19 tally to 78,14,682

COVID-19 situation in India

Over the span of 24 hours, the COVID-19 cases reported in India remained below 55,000 for the third consecutive day, while the new fatalities recorded in a day dropped to 578 after almost three months, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Sunday. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 cases rose to 78,64,811 with 50,129 fresh infections being reported in a day and the death toll climbed to 1,18,534 with 578 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The active cases remained below seven lakh for three days in a row, while the national recovery rate has risen to 90 percent, the ministry said. As of now, there are 6,68,154 active cases of COVID-19 in the country which comprise 8.50 percent of the total caseload, the data stated.

(With inputs from PTI)