BRITAIN said it is rushing to dispatch a further 1000 ventilators to India to help its struggling healthcare system deal with a surge in coronavirus infections which is killing thousands every day.
Boris Johnson promised “the UK will always be there for India” as he committed fresh assistance including advice from NHS staff and Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance.
The Prime Minister made the pledge ahead of a call with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi tomorrow, and arranged to replace a visit to New Delhi which was cancelled as cases spiralled.
The 1000 ventilators from the UK’s surplus supply are in addition to 200 sent last week, in shipments that have included nearly 500 oxygen concentrators.
Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, and Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, have spoken to their Indian counterparts to share the expertise they have gained during the UK’s battle with the disease.
India yesterday recorded more than 390,000 new infections and 3600 deaths over 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to more than 215,500.
In a statement, Johnson said: “The terrible images we have seen in India in recent weeks are all the more powerful because of the close and enduring connection between the people of the UK and India.
“I am deeply moved by the surge of support the British people have provided to the people of India and am pleased the UK Government has been able to play our part in providing life-saving assistance.
“The UK will always be there for India in its time of need.”
Earlier in the day, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK would “look very carefully” at any request for vaccines from India.
The Cabinet minister will meet his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar this week as he hosts face-to-face meetings with G7 foreign ministers.
India is in dire need of vaccines despite it being the world’s largest manufacturer of jabs.
Raab said the Government has not had a request for vaccines from New Delhi as he was questioned over plans as Britain vaccinates younger and healthier people.
“We’ll always look very carefully at any requests we’ve got,” he told The Andrew Marr Show.
He said he was not going to “speculate on hypothetical scenarios” when pressed if ministers would grant India access to UK supplies.
“The Indian relationship is very important to us and we’d obviously want to co-operate very closely together,” Raab said.
“You know, right throughout this crisis we have said we need to keep supply chains, particularly supply chains, open and we ought to resolve these kind of issues through collaboration, and that is certainly what we’re doing with the Indians.”
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