New Delhi: The Indian Army is readying separate teams to be deployed in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan to help those countries boost capabilities to deal with rising cases of coronavirus, official sources said on Tuesday.
A 14-member Indian Army team was sent to Maldives last month to help the island nation set up coronavirus testing laboratories and train local medical professionals to fight the pandemic.
Earlier this month, India dispatched a 15-member team of Army to Kuwait as part of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The sources said the teams for Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan are being readied as part of India’s policy of extending helping hand to all friendly countries in the region to fight the pandemic.
India has also been playing a key role in pushing for a common framework in fighting the pandemic in the SAARC region.
At a video conference on March 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for formulating a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region and proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India. It is understood that India has already made the contribution.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
All the SAARC member nations are reeling under adverse social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of its policy to help friendly countries to deal with the pandemic, India is also supplying anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to 55 countries. A number of countries including the US, Mauritius and Seychelles have already received the drug.
Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.
The demand for the drug has swelled rapidly after India decided to lift a ban on its export.
In the neighbourhood, India is sending the drug to Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh Nepal, Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, sources said.
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China may instigate Srilanka to get the assistance of Indian military ,soas to weaken the Indian side ( by injecting corona virus secretly).In that case , if USA take any action against China in the coming months , at that time India can’t go against China.
This is a fake story. The army in its official statement denied this report. Please do not spread misinformation
India is unable to control their own problem. How can they help others. As China is supporting other countries so India wanted to show that they can help others. If India wants to help other countries then they can send some ICU ventilator and N95 mask. If Indian Army comes they will also bring Corona virus with them. Be careful.
I think pakistani media beggers are there in this channel to write the comments. When it comes to help on humantarian grounds and making the issue political because only mullas and terrorist will have the problem to take the help from india..there will be a day when pakistan will beg for food from india…Bharat matha ki jai
Really funny. Statistically India is in a bad shape now comparing with the neighbors. Maybe instead of deploying army for political agenda- taking care of own problem would be better idea. Literally nobody asked for Indian army, hence Modi thought it’s a chance to setup army base. As far I know, Bangladesh is already producing it own Hydroxychloroquine, in face they sent it to Maldivs already, and Malaysia requested them to export their which already approved by the govt. Doesn’t make any sense how ”India is sending the drug to …Bangladesh”!
Sri Lanka has enough doctors. It’s India that needs help.
Prime minister Hasina has declared a contribution of US$ 150 million to the SAARC fund to fight the corona crisis. Bangladesh is also better prepared than India to face any natural disaster including the corona pandemic. Its army is already helping the civilian authorities to fight the coronavirus crisis. So there is no need for Indian Army personnel in Bangladesh. It is better the Indian army help their own citizens in need.
With all regard and respect to them , army doctors have thier limitations. So this is misuse of army..
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka has refuted the news that a Army team is coming to Sri Lanka.