NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an extraordinary virtual meeting on Wednesday with chief ministers of states the country gears up to combat the second wave of the deadly virus. India"s daily coronavirus infections jumped by 28,903 on Wednesday, according to the federal health ministry figures, marking the highest increase since Dec. 13 and taking the nationwide tally to 11.44 million. Deaths swelled by 188, the highest figure in two months, to stand at 159,044. India has the world"s highest tally of infections after the United States and Brazil. Addressing the chief ministers during the meeting, the Indian PM said it was critical to stop what he called the "emerging second peak." Modi underlined the need of taking decisive steps, including micro-containment zones, increased testing and enforcement of restrictions like masks. "If we don"t stop this pandemic right now, then there could be a nationwide outbreak. We have to immediately stop the emerging second peak and take big and decisive steps," the Indian PM warned. "The self-confidence that we gained in our corona fight should not turn into overconfidence. Our success should not be the reason for carelessness," he noted. Nearly 62 percent of infections in the past 24 hours and 46 percent of the deaths were reported by the western state of Maharashtra, the country"s worst affected.