India has lent a helping hand to the Himalayan Kingdom, to fight the global pandemic – COVID-19. On Sunday, Aug 9, the Indian Army has gifted ten ICU ventilators to the Nepali Army to help in their effort to fight against the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. At a ceremony held at the Nepali army Headquarters, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Ambassador of India to Nepal, presented the ventilators to Sukeertimaya Rastradeep General Purna Chandra Thapa, Chief of Army Staff, Nepali Army and Honorary General of Indian Army. India has offered all help to the people of that country all possible help to fight the global pandemic.

Top sources confirmed to Financial Express Online that “the medical aid was provided as per the request raised by the Nepali Army leadership in its interaction with the Indian counterparts.”

As has been reported earlier, the first tranche of medicines to handed over to Nepal Army on April 4, by the Indian Army. “These supplies were provided through the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and funded under SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund,” said the source quoted above.

Also, India has provided technical assistance in the form of SAARC Video Conference to Nepal, and 14 senior healthcare professionals from that country had participated in e-ITEC training course starting from April 17, 2020.

More about the Ventilators

The gifting of the ventilators to Nepal is part of the continued humanitarian cooperation between the two armies. In fact, the Indian Army has always been the first responder for humanitarian assistance and relief to the Nepali army.

The ventilators gifted can be used for a broad range of applications which include advanced invasive or non-invasive respiratory support. These can also be used in support of secondary care in hospitals with ICU. Also in dedicated ICUs and tertiary multispecialty hospitals. Since these ventilators are compact in nature, they can be easily transported with the patients needing intensive care.

During the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, India took the lead in training doctors and other medical staff in the SAARC countries. Indian countries had also been dispatched to Nepal in April to share best practices and train the doctors and their staff on how to test and treat the COVID-19 positive patients.

SAARC Emergency Fund

The $10 million SAARC Emergency Fund to fight Covid-19 was set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.