NEW DELHI: Army Chief General MM Naravane on Monday termed the Covid pandemic a “black swan” event that not only left Standard Operating Procedures of the past redundant “but also forced us to rethink them.”
Common protocols and establishing greater interoperability among the BIMSTEC nations can be of huge assistance in saving human lives, said the Army Chief while addressing representatives at the maiden PANEX 21.
The BIMSTEC provides a unique link between the South and South-East Asia with five countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka from South Asia — and two countries, Myanmar and Thailand from the South-East Asia, coming together for cooperation in 14 key economic and social sectors.
PANEX-21, a multi-national, multi-agency exercise being organised in Pune from December 20 to 22 to foster common capabilities in disaster management aspects among BIMSTEC nations. “A lot has changed since then. We have realized that our standard operating procedures, which had worked well in the past, are no longer effective, and would need transformative changes. In fact, our ability to adapt to these rapid changes shall define the outcomes in the future,” said Gen Naravane.
The pandemic has, however, been a ‘black swan’ event that has overwhelmed national capacities, disrupted supply chains and brought us back to the drawing board, he added. The Army Chief said it has been realized that resource preservation in times of Pandemic is as challenging as resource application for disaster management.