Applauding the “spirit of collaboration” among South Asian and Indian Ocean island countries as “a valuable takeaway from this pandemic”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested Thursday the creation of a regional platform for collating and studying data on the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines, a special visa scheme for doctors and nurses to travel within the region during health emergencies, and a regional air ambulance agreement for medical contingencies.
Official sources later said “all countries, including Pakistan, supported the PM’s proposals”. They sought a structured discussion for regional cooperation on these proposals to take them forward, sources said.