New Delhi: China on Monday, April 26, stated that it will “encourage and guide” its firms to “actively” cooperate in acquiring medical supplies after Sichuan Airlines suspended cargo flights to India for a fortnight amidst the latest surge of COVID-19 cases in India.
In a letter to its sales agents on Monday, the Sichuan Chuanhang Logistics Co. Ltd – the company which is part of the Sichuan Airlines – said the airline had suspended its cargo flights on six routes, including Xian to Delhi, amid hectic efforts by private traders from both sides to procure oxygen concentrators from China.
In the letter seen by news agency PTI, the company said, “In the face of sudden changes in the epidemic situation (in India), in order to reduce the number of imported cases, it is decided” that the company will suspend flights for the next 15 days.
“Indian route has always been the core strategic route for Sichuan Airlines. This suspension has also caused great losses to our company. We are very sorry for the unchanged situation,” the letter said and sought the “understanding of its sales agents”. The letter also said the company would review the situation after 15 days.
During the daily briefing of the Chinese foreign ministry, the spokesperson Wang Wenbin deflected the question about Sichuan Airlines by asking it to be addressed to the company. “China been following closely the epidemic situation in India and expressed readiness early on to help curb the latest surge. At present, the two sides are communicating with one another,” he stated.
A few hours later, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi issued a statement that indicated that there might be a relook.
“The Chinese government and people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting against the coronavirus. We will encourage and guide Chinese companies to actively cooperate with India to facilitate acquiring medical supplies, and provide support and help according to India’s need,” said the embassy spokesperson Wang Xiaojian.
The suspension of cargo flights was unforeseen to agents and freight forwarders who are frantically trying to procure the oxygen concentrators from China. There are also complaints of Chinese manufacturers increasing prices by 35 to 40%. The freight charges have been raised to over 20%, said Siddharth Sinha of Sino Global Logistics, a Shanghai-based freight forwarding company.
He told PTI here that the Sichuan Airlines’ decision to cancel flights has caused severe disruption to attempts by private traders in both countries to secure quick supplies of the oxygen concentrators to rush to India given the dire situation. “Now it becomes very challenging to rush the supplies as they have to be rerouted through Singapore and other countries through different airlines, which delays the [process],” he said.
The suspension of flights due to India’s coronavirus situation is surprising as there is no crew change in India and the same crew flies the aircraft back, he said. India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic, with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases reported in the past few days. Hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.
Besides shipping services, Chinese cargo flights have been operational throughout the pandemic, rushing supplies of lucrative mobile phone equipment and a lot of other Chinese exports to India. Sinha also said that Chinese suppliers also resorted to the “inhuman” practice of jacking up prices to cash in on the pandemic emergency.
The suspension of flights also came as a surprise to the Indian officials here as it came in the backdrop of official statements offering support and assistance to India.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told the media in a briefing on April 23 that China is in communication with India to provide necessary support and assistance. “China expresses sincere sympathies to India over the deteriorating situation in the country recently,” he said.
“The Chinese government and people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting the coronavirus. China is ready to provide support and help according to India’s need and is in communication with the Indian side on this,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)