What India is currently experiencing is what is potentially -- if not already -- the worst surge in Covid-related cases the world has seen thus far, with Delhi reporting one Covid-19 death every four minutes. As such, it was disappointing to learn that the proposal to shut down Bangladesh’s borders with India was rejected at an inter-ministerial meeting held earlier this week.
Thankfully, yesterday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal announced that the government had reversed the decision, imposing a bar on entry from India to Bangladesh due to the sudden rise of Covid-19 cases.
This is the sort of swift action necessary to battle the pandemic, a decision that prioritizes the protection of the Bangladeshi population above all else.
For India, there is no denying the tragedy of the matter -- almost 3,000 people are dying every day, with experts claiming that India’s complacency last winter, when cases seemed to have been under control, caused the current situation, one which Bangladesh too would be familiar with.
When Bangladesh itself is experiencing record-breaking Covid cases on a daily basis, leaving our borders and ports open with a nation that is experiencing its deadliest spell of Covid-19 is a risk we could not have afforded to take, especially with the emergence of deadlier strains which appear to make certain vaccines ineffective.
Joining an increasing number of nations which have already suspended flights from India due to this most recent surge was a wise decision and one which will ensure that the current situation does not spiral out of control.
We must continue to remember that, when it comes to the protection of our people and the economy on which they rely, reeling as we already are from several weeks of lockdown, we cannot afford to compromise.
Keeping our borders open would have left them vulnerable to further devastation.
