The post COVID-19 world will be very different from the world we knew in 2019. The global economy will have to be rebuilt, consumer confidence will have to be restored and medical facilities in every country will have to be reviewed. In the COVID-19 battle, GDP growth in most countries will decline from three to five per cent, leading to job losses.

Governments are printing money to pay for expenses, even though tax collections will fall due to shut factories and offices. Almost all nations are undergoing untold traumas during COVID-19, due to inadequate health facilities, hospitals, medical staff, etc. Thus, after discovering and disseminating the vaccine, the world will be very busy auditing the global response to COVID-19 and preparing contingency plans for future emergencies, so that we are not caught unawares again.

I strongly urge, that all nations should agree to a no-war truce for at least five years. The world needs time to heal and repair its soul. So, nations which have trade or boundary disputes should freeze them. There is no point of fighting each other. We need the time and focus to repair the global economy and help kick-start lives of ordinary people. For instance, the trade wards between China and the US and the boundary skirmishes between China and India were highly unnerving in the middle of the pandemic.

Let us bury our economic differences and political battles and repair the soul of a tormented world.

Rajendra Aneja — Mumbai, India