US to 'donate a lot of ventilators to India' says US Prez Donald Trump
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Washington, May 16: US President Donald Trump announced that the US will "donate a lot of ventilators to India" in combat the coronavirus pandemic in India. He also highlighted that both nations are working together to develop a vaccine against the 'invisible enemy'.
"We are sending a lot of ventilators to India. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi. We are sending quite a few ventilators to India. We have a tremendous supply of ventilators," Trump told reporters before boarding Marine One on his way to Camp David on Friday. However, the White House did not say how many breathing devices would be sent.
I am proud to announce that the United States will donate ventilators to our friends in India. We stand with India and @narendramodi during this pandemic. We’re also cooperating on vaccine development. Together we will beat the invisible enemy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 15, 2020
"Together we will beat the invisible enemy! We stand with India and Prime Minister Modi during this pandemic," Trump told reporters in the White House.
Earlier in last month, due to Trump's request, India had lifted the ban to allow the export of 50 million hydroxychloroquine tablets to treat COVID-19 patients in America. The country has been worst-hit by the pandemic, with 87,530 deaths and over 1.4 million infections reported so far, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Earlier in the day, Trump had lauded India and Prime Minister Modi. "India has been so great and as you know your prime minister has been a very good friend of mine. I just got back a short while ago from India and we are very much together," Trump added.
Trump said Indian-Americans were "great" scientists and researchers, who were contributing to the development of the coronavirus vaccine. He said a COVID-19 vaccine would likely be available by the end of the year. Trump has appointed the former head of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline to spearhead the vaccine development effort.
"The president just extolled our great relationship with India. India has been a great partner to us for quite some time. I am encouraged to hear ventilators to India," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a press briefing. She said India will be among several countries that would be getting the ventilators.
A number of countries, including India, are trying to procure ventilators needed for hospitals to deal with the demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
India has now crossed the total of China's count of 82,933 confirmed as India reported the tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen up to 85,000 on Friday.
Last month, China said it was ready to help India procure the ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, but underlined that Chinese firms are finding it difficult to scale-up production as they needed imported parts.