China dispatches 6.5 lakh medical kits to India

Beijing: China on Thursday dispatched 650,000 coronavirus medical kits to India to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian Ambassador to Beijing Vikram Misri said. Over two million test kits being procured from China will be sent to India in the next 15 days, he told PTI. "#IndiaFightsCoronavirus A total of 650,000 kits, including Rapid Antibody Tests and RNA Extraction Kits have been dispatched early today from Guangzhou Airport to #India," Misri tweeted on Thursday.

As its factories resumed operations after over a two-month grim battle against the coronavirus, China is busy tapping into the vast business opportunities of export of key medical goods, especially ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE), across the world, including India, where both private and government bodies are placing orders for the import of these products. Two major consignments of medical kits were reported to have been sent to India from China earlier as part of efforts to step up testing specially in hotspots during the current lockdown in the country. The orders are being placed with bonafide firms with the help of the Chinese government. "I think facilitation of our needs and our requirements in a timely manner, in a smooth manner, on a predictable timeline at prices that are stable and orderly, would be the best signal possible to send for the India-China relationship," Misri said.