As India and United States closed its borders for tourists in order to combat Covid-19, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the coordinated efforts required to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
"The Prime Minister spoke to Indian Prime Minister Modi today. They discussed the coronavirus outbreak and emphasised the importance of coordinated international efforts to tackle the spread of the virus," a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement to PTI.
This comes after India announced cancellation of most travel visas until April 15 to curb what is now declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. In the meantime, the UK has stepped up its preparations to move from the containment phase of the fightback to delaying its spread.
Johnson has been repeatedly asked to close off schools and universities. Now, the UK government aims at delaying the peak of the virus to warmer months of the year, and is moving towards measures around "social distancing" and self-isolation as earlier in the week two MPs were reportedly infected.
The challenge posed by climate change was among the other topics covered during the phone call, as Johnson welcomed India's efforts towards increasing its energy generation through renewable sources.
"The Prime Minister raised climate change, welcoming the steps taken by India to increase generation of renewable energy and urging the need for ambitious action to deliver on the Paris Agreement," Downing Street said.
