India has shown leadership in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and has been on the "front foot" in helping other countries combat the disease, the country's Consul General here has said, noting that the ingenuity and skills of its people will help the country's economy to bounce back.
Sandeep Chakravorty was speaking during a virtual discussion organised by Indian-American community leader Jagdish Sewhani here on India's response to the COVID-19.
From a policy point of view, India is very clear that we have to stop the virus and not let it spread" and the government is undertaking all efforts to contain the virus," Chakravorty, India's Consul General in New York, said.
Addressing members of the Indian-American community and organisations participating in the discussion, he said India has been on the front foot in helping other countries, including by sending shipments of essential medical supplies to various nations, including the US.
We have shown leadership in the G-20 and the SAARC countries, in efforts to fight the pandemic, he said.
Chakravorty said India's strategy for combating COVID-19 has several elements - lockdown, medical preparedness, support to those who have been affected by disruption in their lives as well as international cooperation.
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He noted that though the economy will be impacted, it is really going to be our ingenuity, our skills, our ability in how quickly we can bounce back.
Our priority was in saving lives, Chakravorty said, adding that the economy can rebound but lives lost once will never be able to recover.
I think the way India has tackled with the COVID-19 crisis will really provide India with leadership in the world because we can really bounce back. India is trying to see that it can relocate some of the supply chains which are getting disrupted, moving out from other geographies and coming back to India, he said.
Sewhani, President of the American India Public Affairs Committee, said that the pandemic has presented an opportunity for India to attract businesses and companies that could be looking to move out of China due to the outbreak and diversify into other markets.
The world is looking at India for investments as alternative to China. India will emerge as a global manufacturing hub in the coming years, he said, adding that the ease of doing business in India has improved substantially under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The government must go out of its way and offer better personal income tax for foreigners. For a promoter-based company, this is a big big issue. No promoter will put money unless he can come to India to supervise, monitor and manage his investments, he said.
Sewhani stressed that with changes in the tax law, such visits are quite restrained and prohibitive as a foreign investor cannot stay in India for more than 180 days.
This is exactly what China has tackled well, he said, adding that in order to encourage foreign investors, China changed the tax laws to allow them to stay for six years and only if they stay in China for more than 183 days in any one of those six years, are they taxed on global income.
We must adopt something similar to encourage promoter driven companies to invest in India. Such encouragement will make a success out of Make In India' policy, helping the country become not only a five trillion dollar economy but a 10 trillion economy in future," he said.
Commenting on the massive repatriation exercise Vande Bharat' to bring back stranded Indians from abroad, Chakravorty said the government is working very hard to ensure those most in distress, such as people with serious medical conditions, are brought back home as a priority.
The government has not forgotten Indians who are stranded abroad and we will make all efforts to bring them back to India.