india

Updated: Mar 24, 2020 07:34 IST

China on Monday reiterated its offer to help and assist India in its fight against the Covid-19 outbreak, which threatens to spread in the south Asian country as New Delhi takes gradual steps to impose a countrywide lockdown.

The foreign ministry’s offer of help comes soon after India took part in a Beijing-led video conference over the weekend where Chinese experts shared their epidemic prevention experience with officials from south Asian countries.

More than 2000 officials from health departments, diplomatic services, defence ministries and customs from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh participated in it.

“The WHO (World Health Organisation delegates in the relevant countries also participated in the video conference. The conference was a platform to share China’s experience in epidemic prevention, diagnosis, and control, treatment, supply guarantee and answered around 80 questions,” Geng Shuang, foreign ministry spokesperson, said at the regular ministry briefing on Monday.

“The conference lasted for 4 hours, and around 2000 representatives participated in it. The participants thought it was timely and necessary to learn from China’s experience. China will continue to uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind and engage in more cooperation with the international community,” Geng added.

On assisting India, Geng said both countries were exchanging information on the outbreak.

“We have a mechanism of exchange and China has been notifying the information to India in a timely manner. We have also been providing assistance and convenience to the Indians in China. We have been protecting their health and safety,” Geng said.

“As the pandemic spreads we have noted the situation in India. China and India are the only two countries with such a large population. The virus is a challenge to all and we would like to share our experience and provide necessary assistance to the Indian side. India was also a part of the video conference that was conducted last week,” the spokesperson said.

Geng added that after the outbreak, China and India have been in communication and “there is a cooperation between the two”.

“Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi sent a letter (to President Xi Jinping), and the Indian foreign minister also spoke with the Chinese side over phone. We have received assistance from the Indian side and we applaud that,” he said.

The Indian government had sent 15 tons of medical supplies to China on an Indian Air Force flight that also took back about a 100 Indians from Wuhan and Hubei on its way back in the last week of February.

The Indian medical assistance to China comprised “…masks, gloves and other emergency medical equipment”.

“This assistance has been provided in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak in China and the request by China to provide supplies such as masks and medical equipment,” an Indian government statement had then said.