UAE steps in to support COVID-ravaged India

Our Correspondent

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States have come forward to support India, which is battling an intense second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. UAE landmarks also lit up with the colours of the Indian flag on April 25 night, in full solidarity with India.
The UAE is sending a huge shipment of oxygen concentrators while Saudi Arabia will give a large number of oxygen generators to India.
A heavy-lift transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force arrived in Dubai on April 26 to airlift seven empty cryogenic oxygen containers, officials said. After loading, it headed to West Bengal.
Saudi Arabia sent 80 tonnes of liquid oxygen to help India cope with a shortage on April 25 at a time the country is logging over 3 lakh infections in one day. Saudi Arabia’s oxygen supply shipment has been co-ordinated with India’s Adani and Linde groups.
The US has asked its nearest bases to airlift oxygen generators, concentrators, Remdesivir anti-viral drug and vaccine raw materials. Washington’s decision to support India came on April 25 night came after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to his US counterpart Jake Sullivan.
As a gesture of solidarity with the people of India, Pakistan has offered to provide relief support to India including ventilators, Bi-PAP, digital X-ray machines, PPEs and related items, needed to fight the pandemic. Prime Minister Imran Khan and ministers expressed on Twitter their solidarity with its big neighbour, while its citizens urged the government to go in India’s aid.
His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, expressed confidence that India will overcome the challenging circumstances and reiterated the UAE’s full support for and solidarity with the country.
Cooperation between the two nations over the COVID-19 pandemic had manifested itself in facilitating repatriation flights during the onset of the pandemic; knowledge transfer; provision of medical aid and supplies; exchange of expertise; and application of advanced screening techniques for detection of active virus infections.
The UAE and India have had strategic relations since 1972 following the Arab country’s formation. These privileged relations resulted in the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement in 2017.
Sheikh Abdullah made a phone call to Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on April 26, wherein he expressed support and solidarity. He professed the UAE’s keenness to dedicate all resources in support of the efforts currently undertaken by the government of India to weather the crisis.