Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said the Army is ready to extend help to the people of India in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed nearly 3 lakh lives in the country.

He was speaking via videoconferencing at a seminar organised by a social organisation here.

To stop the spread of COVID-19 in rural areas, people will have to come together and they have to be ready to fight the pandemic, General Rawat said.

''The Army is ready to extend help to the people of the country,'' he said.

India recorded 2.4 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases and 3,741 deaths on Sunday that pushed the tally to 2,65,30,132 and the toll to 2,99,266, according to Union health ministry data.

This is the seventh straight day when daily cases in the country have remained below the 3-lakh mark.

Last week, in an interaction with district magistrates and field officials, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked them to work to rid the rural areas of the coronavirus infection and talk to villagers to guide them.