BSS-53 India hands over 3rd tranche of medical supply to bangladesh

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BANGLADESH-INDIA-COVID-LEAD

(update with foreign ministry’s media release)

India hands over 3rd tranche of medical supply to bangladesh

DHAKA, May 6, 2020 (BSS) – India has handed over third tranche of emergency medical assistance to Bangladesh to help the country contain the spread of COVID-19.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das handed over the supply, consisting 30,000 RT-PCR Covid-19 test kits, to foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at foreign ministry here today, said a press release of Indian high commission here.

During the meeting, Indian envoy informed that these RT-PCR test kits are domestically manufactured in India by ‘My Lab Discovery Solutions Private Limited’ and is widely used in India for Covid-19 detection.

She noted that Bangladesh is the first country to receive these test kits from India on priority, which reflects the importance of Dhaka to New Delhi.

Recalling the time-tested friendship between the two countries, Momen appreciated India’s help for the three tranches of assistance following the outbreak of the pandemic.

The test kits were brought to Bangladesh in an Indigo cargo flight and dispatched to Institute of Epidemiological Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).

The first tranche of Indian emergency medical assistance containing 30,000 surgical masks and 15,000 head caps was handed over to Bangladesh on March 25 while the second one consisting of 50,000 sterile surgical latex gloves and 1,00,000 Hydroxychloroquine medicine tablets arrived here on April 26.

Later, in a separate press release the Bangladesh foreign ministry said they also discussed how Bangladesh and India can work together to support migrant workers in the Middle East (ME) nations where nationals of both the countries are facing hardship due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Indian envoy welcomed the Bangladesh government’s proposals made to the ME countries of providing six months salaries to the migrant workers if they are sacked due to coronavirus outbreak.

Dr Momen informed that Bangladesh made a proposal at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as well as Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) platforms to form a COVID-19 recovery fund for supporting the migrant workers in different countries.

The Indian high commissioner expressed her government’s solidarity with the Bangladesh’s proposal of forming the COVID-19 response fund for protecting interest of the expatriate workers. During the meeting, Momen referred to a recent incident that the Indian Boarder Security Force (BSF) had tried to push in a psychologically disabled Indian national into Bangladesh along the India-Bangladesh Feni river frontier.

The foreign minister requested the Indian envoy to warn BSF not to repeat such kind of act in future as it may create adverse influence on the excellent existing Bangladesh-India bilateral relations.

He also urged Riva to take necessary steps so that the lorries, which have been stuck at the Petrapol border carrying imported goods from India, can get into Bangladesh soon.

The foreign minister thanked the Indian government for its cooperation in bringing back stranded Bangladeshi nationals back home from different Indian cities.

BSS/PR/TA/KU/2232hrs