China sends 24 planeloads of COVID-19 medical items, 20 more to come

India has requested China to send around 20 planeloads of COVID-19 related medical supplies like RT-PCR test kits, Rapid Antibody tests, thermometers, personal protection equipment, etc over the next week.

According to a senior government official, requests for these flights between April 21-27 have been made to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Despite reports of estranged relationships between the nations, the cooperation is seen as a signal that both the Asian nations are on the same page regarding the COVID-19 fight.

From April 4, nearly 24 flights have operated from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xi’an and Hong Kong to India carrying 390 tonnes of medical supplies, reported Hindustan Times.

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The consignees are four state governments of Karnataka, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan along with Imperial Life Sciences, HLL, Matrix Labs, Invex Healthcare, Max and companies of the Reliance, Tata, Adani group.

Last week, after Indians received 6,50,000 testing kits from two cargo flights from China, officials further placed orders for nearly 15 million PPE kits and 1.5 million rapid testing kits to be used by both government and private firms.

Vikarm Misri, Indian ambassador to China termed the facilitation of equipment and drugs by China to India, the “best” signal for bilateral ties.

India too had sent a planeload of medical equipment to Wuhan when the crisis was at its peak in the neighbouring country.