New Delhi, Apr 27 (UNI) The first shipment of medical equipment, including 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators from the United Kingdom arrived in New Delhi early on Tuesday, the External Affairs Ministry said.
Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted photos of the equipment being unloaded from aircraft, calling it “international cooperation at work”.
“International cooperation at work! Appreciate the shipment of vital medical supplies from
Flag of United Kingdom, including 100 ventilators & 95 oxygen concentrators that arrived early this morning,” he tweeted.
On Monday, the British Foreign Office had informed about the assistance and said that further shipments would follow later this week.
The over 600 pieces of vital medical assistance package, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, includes ventilators and oxygen concentrators from surplus stocks.
It will be used by the Government of India to provide vital medical treatment to those suffering from COVID-19 in the country.
In total, nine airline container loads of supplies, including 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators, will be sent to the country this week, the British High Commission said.
The UK is working closely with the Government of India to identify further assistance it can provide in the coming days.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also on Monday called External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and discussed bilateral cooperation on the issue.
“India is a very important partner to us, so we’re providing oxygen concentrators and ventilators to help save the lives of the most vulnerable. We will be following up on this first delivery with further support, based on our ongoing discussions with the Indian Government,” Raab said.
Jaishankar thanked Raab for the call and said both discussed addressing the pandemic challenge,
“Thank Foreign Secretary @DominicRaab of U.K. for the call today. Discussed our cooperation to address different aspects of the COVID challenge. Also reviewed progress in our bilateral agenda,” he said in a tweet.
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