Toeing a line that is not familiar to the party, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday praised the Centre and states for taking effective measures to limit the spread of coronavirus. He said that India could soon emerge as a global leader if New Delhi continues fighting against the outbreak on war-footing.

“Centre, state governments and doctors have done good work to fight coronavirus. Now, when we look at America and Europe, we know we have progressed,” he told news agency ANI.

“In the coming days, there is a huge possibility of India emerging as a model country if we continue to take concrete steps to fight COVID19,” Chowdhury added.

The Basirhat MP said that “if we utilise this opportunity properly, India could become a global leader if we continue to fight against coronavirus like this”.

His remarks come even as party president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka continue their criticism of the Modi government for its “poor handling” of the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.

The virus that originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan has claimed over 2 lakh lives and infected three million people in the world. The United States is the worst affected country in the world as it has reported over 93 lakh positive cases and more than 54,000 deaths. Several European countries like Italy and France have also suffered huge in terms of lives. In comparison, India has successfully managed to restrict the spread of the virus, reporting 872 deaths and 27,892 positive cases.

Several countries, as well as the World Health Organization, have praised the timely measures announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to check the transmission of the disease in India. According to a latest survey conducted by US-based market research company Morning Consult, PM Modi was ahead of President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canada PM Justin Trudeau and France President Emmanuel Macron in handling the COVD-19 situation. PM Modi has an approval rating of 68 points, way ahead of Trump’s and others.