More power to India-US friendship, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, thanking Donald Trump after US President said his country would donate ventilators to India in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
He said that this pandemic is being fought collectively by all of us. In such times, it’s always important for nations to work together and do as much as possible to make our world healthier and free from COVID-19.
“I am proud to announce that the United States will donate ventilators to our friends in India,” Donald Trump had earlier tweeted.
Mr Trump also said India and the US were cooperating to develop a vaccine for the deadly coronavirus that has claimed over three lakh lives and infected more than 45 lakh people globally since it emerged in China in December last year.
However, the White House did not say how many breathing devices would be sent.
“We are sending a lot of ventilators to India. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi. We are sending quite a few ventilators to India. We have tremendous supply of ventilators,” Mr Trump told reporters before boarding Marine One on his way to Camp David.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said India will be among several countries that would be getting the ventilators. A number of countries, including India, are trying to procure ventilators needed for hospitals to deal with the demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
A ventilator takes over the body’s breathing process when the disease has caused the lungs to fail. This gives the patient time to fight off the infection and recover.
Earlier Mr Trump praised India and PM Modi. “India has been so great and as you know your prime minister has been a very good friend of mine. I just got back a short while ago from India and we are very much together,” the US President said, referring to his visit to New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Agra in February.
Last month, India allowed the export of 50 million hydroxychloroquine tablets for COVID-19 treatment in the US, the country worst-hit by the pandemic, with 87,530 deaths and over 14 lakh infections reported so far
