To help ‘good friend’ Modi, US will donate ventilators, says Prez Trump

NEWDELHI/WASHINGTON: The United States will airlift 200 mobile ventilators to help Indians combat Covid-19, people familiar with the developments said on Saturday, hours after US president Donald Trump made the announcement on Twitter.

Trump also said the two countries were cooperating to develop a vaccine for the disease that has claimed more than 310,000 lives globally and infected 4.6 million people.

“We stand with India and @narendramodi during this pandemic. We’re also cooperating on vaccine development. Together we will beat the invisible enemy!” Trump tweeted. Trump reiterated the point at his press conference later, referring to his India visit in February, the role played by Indian expatriates in the US and describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “good friend of mine”.

“We are working closely with India,” he told reporters. Modi thanked him in a tweet and highlighted the India-US relationship. “In such times, it’s always important for nations to work together and do as much as possible to make our world healthier and free from Covid-19,” he said.

Trump did not mention details of the ventilators but a senior Indian government official said the consignment may “arrive by the end of this month or latest, early June”.

Each of these mobile ventilators is estimated to cost $ 13,000 (Rs 9.6 lakh at current exchange rates) without accounting for the transportation costs. In all, the ventilators will cost about $ 2.6 million (or Rs 192 million) plus freight charges.

The US move comes weeks after Modi acted on Trump’s request to reverse a ban on the export of hydroxychloroquine.