New Delhi:
A major summit of the African Union and India scheduled to be held in Delhi from May 28 has been postponed due to the “evolving health situation in parts of Africa”, the government said in a statement today.
Several parts of Africa have reported cases of the deadly Ebola virus, the latest from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province.
India and the African Union had been preparing to hold the Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit when the two sides, taking into account the situation in Africa, “reaffirmed the importance of continued cooperation in strengthening public health preparedness and response capacities across the continent, including through support to Africa CDC and relevant national institutions,” India said in the statement.
The summit’s new dates will be finalised through mutual consultations and communicated in due course, the government said.
The decision to postpone the summit was taken after consultations were held between India and the chairperson of the African Union and the African Union Commission.
“Following these consultations, the two sides agreed that it would be advisable to convene the Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit at a later date,” it said.
India has not reported any case of Ebola. The Centre has also stepped up surveillance and preparedness measures nationwide after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak in parts of Central Africa a public health emergency of international concern.
States and Union Territories have been told to ensure readiness at all levels with standard operating procedures (SOPs) on pre-arrival and post-arrival screening, quarantine protocols, case management, referral mechanisms and laboratory testing, sources said.
The necessity for such international caution is heightened by the fact that, far from being a monolith, the Ebola virus manifests through distinct viral strains, each having unique characteristics regarding its lethality, how rapidly it spreads, and its vulnerability to medical interventions.
Driving this specific health crisis is the Bundibugyo variant, a less common iteration of the pathogen that historically emerges far less often than the notoriously virulent Zaire strain, which fueled the catastrophic West African epidemic from 2014 to 2016.
