New Delhi: Even as India remains reluctant to get direct Chinese government aid from China, private firms worldwide continue to source essential medical supplies and equipment from China to rush to the South Asian country that is overwhelmed by a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a media briefing on Thursday, Indian foreign secretary Harsh Shringla stated several companies were “sourcing products” from China. “I mentioned that companies who have been active in sourcing our priority requirements, be it oxygen generators, concentrators, pharmaceuticals, etcetera, and some of it is coming from China and is being sourced from China,” he said.
Earlier today, Chinese state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi wrote a letter to his Indian counterpart expressing sympathy and support.
“It is noticed that recently a new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is surging in India. The Chinese side shares empathy for the challenges facing India and expresses sincere sympathy,” Wang wrote in the letter addressed to S. Jaishankar.
Describing coronavirus as a “common enemy of mankind”, Wang noted that China “supports the Indian Government and people in fighting the pandemic”.
He pointed that “anti-pandemic materials produced in China are entering India at a faster pace to help India fight the epidemic”.
The Chinese ambassador to India tweeted that this month China has supplied “more than 5000 ventilators, 21569 oxygen generators, over 21.48 million masks & around 3800 tons of medicines to India”.
Wang also added that China “will continue to do its utmost to provide support and help according to the needs of India”. “We hope and believe that under the leadership of the Indian Government. the Indian people will surely prevail over the epidemic at an early date”.
While Beijing repeatedly has said that it was ready to offer aid, Indian officials have not indicated that China is among the countries from whom government assistance will be received.
The equipment and medicines being sourced from China are mainly through private companies, both Indian and foreign.
Earlier this week, China’s Sichuan airlines had suspended its cargo flights to India, which impacted the transportation of oxygen concentrators required for COVID019-infected patients. The Chinese embassy had responded that it would “encourage and guide” Chinese firms to facilitate the procurement of urgently-needed items for India’s fight against COVID-19.
On Wednesday, Mukesh Aghi, head of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (UISPF), an advocacy group of US tech firms, stated that it was facing difficulties transporting oxygen concentrators to India.
In an interview with India Today, Aghi claimed that all cargo flights from China to India had been stopped, which has led to the items taking a longer route.
A day later, foreign secretary Shringla stated that the Indian embassy in Beijing informed him that a “very large number of flights (to India) is already operational”.
He stated that the suspension of 10 daily flights by Sichuan Airlines has “had an impact on some of the equipment coming in”.
“Our endeavour is to ensure air connectivity at least in cargo term is kept open. Certainly, we will be in touch with authorities in China to have as much of this connectivity open at this time as possible,” said the Indian foreign secretary.