Govt clarifies: No directive to Indian missions to counter foreign media's Covid-19 coverage
The media reports claimed that Indian ambassadors and high commissioners had been told to disseminate that there could be no connection between the elections, campaign rallies and the spike in numbers.
FollowThe Narendra Modi government has denied reports which claimed that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has asked Indian ambassadors and high commissioners posted across the world to counter the "one-sided narrative in international media".
The international reports in question are the ones that question the handling of the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government.
The media reports claimed that diplomats were told that this was not a disaster that's uniquely Indian and that the severity of the second wave was such that no health expert had predicted this.
The reports also claimed that Indian ambassadors and high commissioners were told to disseminate that there could be no connection between the elections, campaign rallies and the spike in numbers.
However, government sources said that many assertions made in the media report have been factually inaccurate.
Sources said that the External Affairs Minister's message to Indian diplomats was to remain focused on ensuring Covid-19 supplies to India and not get distracted by irrelevant debates.
The government clarification comes of the day India logged a record 4,01,993 new Covid-19 infections, becoming the first country in the world to cross the four lakh mark in a single day.
The country's new infections recorded in April were equivalent to the number of infections reported from March 2021 to October 2020.
