Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan’s visit Kuwait to meet the new Amir of Kuwait laid a foundation for boosting ties and this later turned out to be a fortuitous opportunity which would assist secure much needed Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to meet demands here following second wave of Covid.
It was in October last that Pradhan had travelled to Kuwait to convey personal messages of condolences from the President and Prime Minister on the death of the former Amir. The visit by Pradhan turned out to be very useful in securing Kuwaiti assistance in the recent weeks.
In mid-April, as the ferocity of the Covid surge and the attendant respiratory issues became clear, MEA swung into action to procure LMO from around the world. Indian Envoys immediately started scouting around for suitable suppliers, sources told ET.
It was clear that apart from procuring LMO, the logistics of transporting it back to India would be a vital element. Due to safety concerns, LMO cannot be transported by air. And there are limited cryogenic tanks globally that can transport LMO.
Industrial oxygen is produced in large quantities in oil production and refining business. MEA realized that with some processing, this could be converted into medical grade oxygen and countries like Kuwait could be useful sources for LMO.
Indian Ambassador to Kuwait, Sibi George, reached out to the Kuwati authorities.
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