Journalist Barkha Dutt on India’s COVID Calamity

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

GZERO Media

International Relations, Government, Foreign Policy, Gzero World, News Commentary, Trump, News, Global Economy, Geopolitics, Politics, Ian Bremmer

4.6 • 684 Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2021

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

India’s latest COVID explosion hits home as one Delhi-based journalist speaks with Ian Bremmer about her own father’s death from the virus. Barkha Dutt has been reporting on the pandemic in India since it began, but nothing could prepare her for the catastrophic second wave that has hit her country in the last few weeks—and that has now shattered her own family. Would her father have survived if the oxygen tank in his ambulance had been working, or if the ambulance hadn’t gotten stuck in Delhi traffic? She asks similar questions of her national government. Why was it caught so unprepared by this second wave, well over a year into the pandemic? Why has India, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, been so slow to vaccinate its own citizens? And how much of the blame falls at the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi?

Transcript

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0:00.0	It feels like citizens have been left to fend for themselves.
0:05.0	It's almost sort of Darwinian.
0:07.5	You have a sense of starring in your own worst science fiction survivor movie,
0:12.6	where it's up to you if you survive.
0:17.3	Hello and welcome to the GZero World Podcast.
0:20.7	Here you'll find extended versions of interviews for my public television show and exclusive extras from the newsmakers and experts I talk to every week.
0:29.1	I'm Ian Bremmer.
0:29.9	Today, a look at India and the world's worst COVID crisis.
0:34.4	Just months ago, the nation was praised for its pandemic response.
0:38.9	Today, record highs daily for new cases and deaths, a 40% positivity rate in Delhi and a desperate
0:45.9	need for supplies, vaccines, and medical equipment. I'm talking about that and what it means
0:51.5	for the rest of the world with a Delhi-based award-winning journalist and author Barker Dot, who lost her own father to the virus
0:59.6	just days ago. Let's get to it.
1:06.0	The G0 World podcast is brought to you by our founding sponsor, First Republic.
1:15.3	First Republic, a private bank and wealth management company, understands the value of service, safety, and stability in today's uncertain world.
1:24.6	Visit firstrepublic.com to learn more.
1:34.8	Thank you. Thanks for joining the show. Thanks for having me in.
1:40.0	So, of course, I want to talk all about this catastrophe as it's hitting India, your home country
1:46.2	right now. But when I first got in touch with you to talk about the show, I had no idea,
1:50.4	of course, that what was about to happen. And you're just a few days ago, you lost your
1:56.2	father to coronavirus. So first of all, my heart goes out to you. Can you talk a little bit about him and what
2:02.3	happened? Yeah. In fact, Ian, when you reached out, my father was ill, but like many other people,
	...

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