BackChina to stand with India in fight against Covid-19: Xi Jinping
It come against the backdrop of the a devastating second wave of the pandemic sweeping through the country with the daily infections at more than 380,000 and the number of total dead due to covid-19 standing at over 200,000
PremiumNEW DELHI: China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with India to fight the pandemic, Chinese president Xi Jinping said in a letter to prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
The contents of the letter were not entirely revealed but Chinese ambassador to India Sun Weidong posted sections of it on Twitter.
It come against the backdrop of the a devastating second wave of the pandemic sweeping through the country with the daily infections at more than 380,000 and the number of total dead due to covid-19 standing at over 200,000.
“Chinese President #XiJinping sends a message of sympathy to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi @narendramodi today," Sun’s first tweet said.
“President Xi says, ‘I am very concerned about the recent situation of COVID-19 pandemic in India. On behalf of the Chinese Government and people, as well as in my own name, I would like to express sincere sympathies to the Indian Government and people,’" Sun’s second tweet said.
“The Chinese side stands ready to strengthen cooperation with the Indian side in fighting the pandemic and provide support and help in this regard. I believe that under the leadership of the Indian Government, the Indian people will surely prevail over the pandemic," his third post said.
On Thursday, Chinese foriegn minister Wang Yi had sent a similar letter to his counter S Jaishankar.
The letters come as India and China are in the midst of a military standoff in eastern Ladakh with talks over disengagement of troops, and de-escalation stuck over Beijing’s reluctance to pull back from key friction points.
New Delhi has been cool to China’s offers of help with no official comments on accepting or welcoming the assistance. However, Indian companies and others are sourcing necessities sought urgently in India to fight the pandemic including oxygen concentrators and containers for instance from Hong Kong.
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