In an open letter marking one year into his second term, Modi appealed to the country’s population of 1.3 billion to follow all lockdown rules to stop the spread of the pandemic.

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Speaking in a televised address on Tuesday, Modi said it was vital that the virus is prevented from impacting parts of the country that remain unaffected.

“My request to all my countrymen is that coronavirus will not be allowed to spread across new areas at any cost,” said Modi, who wore a scarf covering his mouth and nose which he removed before speaking. “We have to be very careful about hotspots. We will have to keep a close watch on the places that are expected to become hotspots.”

The “complete” 21-day lockdown for India’s 1.3 billion people came into force at the end of the day on March 24 and was set to expire on Tuesday, April 14.

Since the lockdown was enforced, only essential services have been operational. Those include water, electricity, health services, fire services, grocery stores, and municipal services.

All regular shops, commercial establishments, factories, workshops, offices, markets and places of worship have been closed and interstate buses and metros have been suspended. Construction activity was also halted during this period.

“Until May 3, all of us in India will have to remain in lockdown. During this time, we have to follow the same discipline as we have been doing,” Modi said, CNN reported.

Prior to Modi’s address, several Indian states had ordered extended lockdowns until April 30, in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading. Those included Maharashtra, the center of the worst outbreak in the country.

While the lockdown measures will continue, Modi said that some states and districts that have shown to have avoided an outbreak “could be allowed to resume important activities but with conditions.”

“Until April 20, all districts, neighborhoods, and states will be closely monitored to see how strictly they are implementing the rules,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister did not offer any specifics but said “detailed guidelines” will be issued by the government on Wednesday.

India is the world’s second-most populous country and the fifth-biggest economy, but there are fears that the country’s health systems would not be able to cope with a major outbreak. The country has reported 10,363 coronavirus cases, including at least 339 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health on Tuesday.

In his speech, Modi thanked citizens for adhering to the lockdown restrictions over the past three weeks.

“You have faced difficulties to save yourself and the nation,” Modi said. “I understand the great difficulties you are facing regarding food, the lack of movement. Some had to stay away from their families. You are fulfilling duties as disciplined soldiers for the sake of the nation.”

He said that India had made efforts to ensure major outbreaks — such as those seen in Europe or the United States — did not spread in the country.

“Today, the pandemic is global. Compared to other countries, India has made efforts to prevent infection here,” Modi said.

“India didn’t wait for the problem to escalate. Instead, as soon as the problem appeared, we tried to stop it by making swift decisions. I can’t imagine what the situation would have been had such quick decisions not been taken.”

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We look forward to providing the “best and most feared military defense equipment” to India, said the US President, while addressing a crowd of more than 100,000 people at a stadium in the western state of Gujarat, shortly after arriving on his maiden visit to the country, Reuters reported.

Trump said he looked forward to expanding space cooperation between the two nations and said both sides were at the early stages of reaching an ‘incredible’ trade agreement.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi said that his country has many interests in maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East region.

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Zarif tweeted that he had “excellent discussions” with the Indian minister of external affairs on “closer bilateral relations” as well as “regional and global issues” affecting the two countries during the 19th Joint Commission Meeting.

In a tweet on recent Iran and India talks, wrote “Our ties are ancient, historic & unbreakable.”

Jaishankar also took to Twitter to commend the meeting as “very productive”.

He said the two sides “agreed on accelerating” a joint project to develop Iran’s Chabahar port in the country’s southeast and had “a very good conversation on the regional and global picture”.

“India and Iran will work together closely on their shared interests,” Jaishankar said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Zarif and Jaishankar, who co-chaired the meeting, signed a memorandum of understanding.

Jaishankar arrived in the Iranian capital Sunday on a two-day visit. He is expected to meet with President Hassan Rouhani on Monday.

The Chabahar port complex on Iran’s coast along the Sea of Oman is being developed as a transportation corridor for land-locked Afghanistan.

In May 2016, India signed a deal with Iran to develop two terminals with five berths at the Shahid Beheshti area in Chabahar.

Under the agreement, India would build a 600-meter (1,969 feet) cargo terminal and a 640-meter container terminal. However, only a portion of the two berths has been finished because of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran after President Donald Trump took office in November 2016 that culminated with the reimposition of economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic last year.

In December 2018, India took over operations at part of the Shahid Beheshti port and now hopes to soon start full operations at a portion of it.

The port could potentially open the way for millions of dollars in trade for Afghanistan and cut its dependence on Pakistan’s port of Gwadar, located 166 km to the east.

Reuters contributed to this story.

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Government sources said Modi met his council of ministers in the capital, New Delhi, on Saturday to discuss security measures to end violent and contentious citizenship law protests that the parliament passed last week, which critics say discriminates against Muslims and undermines the country’s secular constitution.

Under the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will be allowed to claim Indian citizenship — but not if they are Muslims.

Media reports said at least 14 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in clashes between police and protesters since December 11, when the country’s parliament passed the citizenship act.

Modi held the meeting as demonstrations continued on Saturday despite curfews and a draconian regulation to shut down protests.

India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has seen the worst violence with nine people killed so far and several more in critical condition in hospital.

Rights activists in Uttar Pradesh, ruled by Modi’s nationalist party, said police had raided their houses and offices to prevent them from planning fresh demonstrations. Authorities also shut schools across the state as fresh protests erupted on Saturday.

The heart of India’s capital also witnessed street battles late Friday as police used water cannon and charged at protesters with batons.

A car was set ablaze and demonstrators were injured during the clashes at the Delhi Gate in the Old Delhi district. The altercations came as thousands reconvened at the Delhi Gate, following an earlier sit-in in the same area, after marching from India’s biggest mosque, Jama Masjid, in the afternoon.

In Modi’s home state of Gujarat, fresh clashes were also reported between security forces and demonstrators in Vadodara City.

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