As India builds up its capacity to fight the growing number of coronavirus cases in India, China dispatched 6.5 lakhs protecting kits including Rapid Antibody Tests and RNA extraction kits, arriving later tonight. Besides China, India is scouting around for medical suppliers across the globe for importing testing kits and other supplies, needed in this fight against the global pandemic coronavirus.
Sources have confirmed to Financial Express Online late Thursday that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been making efforts to get medical supplies from other countries. And as part of this, the Rapid antibody testing kits which include — three lakh from Guangzhou Wondfo and 2.5 lakh from Zhuhai Livzon and RNA extraction kits – one lakh from MGI Shenzhen, with all formalities cleared in arriving soon.”
RELATED NEWS
Jammu and Kashmir: Militant killed in encounter with security forces in Shopian districtJammu and Kashmir: Militant killed in encounter with security forces in Shopian districtCOVID-19: Recession will take its toll on defence budgetCOVID-19: Recession will take its toll on defence budget
“In the shipment arriving from China, the credit goes to the Indian Embassy in Beijing and the Consulate in Guangzhou. These two missions besides identifying the suppliers played a critical role in expediting the import of the medical supplies from that country,” added the source.
Challenges faced while importing from China
According to sources due to supply crunch, there were challenges faced related to local regulations and registration etc. The Indian mission and Consulate worked round the clock to get customs clearance and necessary airlines clearances as they were operating on non scheduled flights.”
More testing kits are expected to arrive from South Korea soon. And Indian missions are in the process of gathering more information and quotations and identifying medical suppliers in countries including the UK, Malaysia, France, Canada and the US. Also, suppliers have been identified in Germany and Japan as well.
As reported earlier, Indian missions have been urged to identify companies in various countries which can provide quality personal protective equipment (PPE). “To ensure timely deliveries of these PPE, on the ground Indian missions across the globe are working closely with several agencies including suppliers, clearing agents, airlines, and local authorities.”
Expert View
According to Prof Rajan Kumar, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, “In the next two weeks, China is expected to send over two million test kits. This is being interpreted as a Chinese strategy to restore its image and defuse criticisms related to its opaque policies early on which contributed to the spread of the virus. Apart from its commercial significance, this provides an opportunity for China to showcase its capability and indispensability in the interdependent world. Even the USA is dependent on medical supplies from China. In many countries in Europe, especially Serbia, Czech Republic and Italy, people think China is a saviour. When the expected help from the European Union did not come, many of the smaller countries turned to China.”
“India had sent 15 tonnes of medical supplies to China in March which included one lakh surgical masks, 5 lakh surgical gloves, 75 infusion pumps, 4000 pieces of N-95 masks. It is time for China to pay back. China has imposed new regulation to check the supply of shoddy medical products before they leave the country. Inspection of every item at the customs led to inordinate delay in supplies. People in many countries believe that China is trying to turn the spotlight away from being the source of the pandemic through shipment of medical products and donations to other countries,” he opines.
According to him, “There is a rising wave of nationalist anger around the globe where people facing health and economic hardship are desperately hunting for culpable parties. Populist leaders are deflecting their own failures by accusing WHO and China of their missteps early on. China cannot get away from the criticism of being a source. So, it is doing the best what it can- `mediclomacy’”.
Source:- financialexpress.com