New Delhi, Jul 20 (IANS): Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the real enemy is the Covid virus.

Taking part in a discussion in the Upper House, Puri said, "I have got an impression that the one realisation which has escaped many is that the enemy here is the virus, not the government, or the Chief Ministers, or the system. It is the virus which is the real enemy."

Puri said when he was the Civil Aviation Minister, he was the first to stop flights coming from China, a move which others followed.

He also attacked the opposition on the issue of vaccination, saying, "There are loose talks about India exporting vaccines. Do you know what a vaccine is? Many leaders talk about vaccines as if they are something which one can buy from a neighbourhood chemist shop. The manufacturers producing vaccine doses can be counted on fingertips."

The minister was intervening on behalf of the treasury bench after the opposition criticised the government over its handling of the pandemic.