As Italy goes through some of its worst days in decades, India sends help

The Wuhan virus pandemic has now spread across 169 countries and regions over the planet. The virus which emerged from Wuhan in the Hubei Province of China has breached the 3,00,000 barrier of infected persons. Italy, Spain and the United States have reported soaring new death tolls. The Mediterranean country of Italy reported another 5,500 new cases with 651 deaths on Sunday. The healthcare system of Italy has been in tremendous duress since the third phase of the novel Wuhan Virus hit the country nearly a month ago.

In such turbulent times, international and regional cooperation becomes critical in ensuring that the situation is effectively managed. Leading the fight and spirit of cooperation is India—the Good Samaritan. The PM Modi led government has sent aboard a special Air India flight aid materials to assist the authorities and the people of the European nation to fight the pandemic.

Acknowledging the friendly and humanitarian gesture, the Foreign Ministry of Italy issued a statement expressing gratitude to the government of India. The statement read, “We are grateful for the friendship and generosity in this time of need.”

The European country has also made a direct appeal to Mark Esper, Defense Secretary for the US military’s help to battle Wuhan Virus. Furthermore, the Italy Government has requested that US military personnel stationed in Italy to assist Italian authorities by providing medical personnel and field hospitals in support of Italian troops already responding to the crisis there. Although the Italian plea for assistance from its NATO ally has so far not been returned.

India had last month provided 15 tonnes of medical assistance to China that included masks, gloves, and medical equipment. The supplies were delivered by an Indian Air Force C-17 special flight which landed in Wuhan for evacuating stranded Indian students.

India has also provided support to South Asian countries SAARC nations like Bhutan and Maldives, and is in the process to help Nepal. During the SAARC-COVID video conference called by PM Modi, New Delhi had announced a COVID emergency fund and said its rapid response team was available to any SAARC country in need.

India’s strategic ally Israel has also sought New Delhi’s help even as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu requested Prime Minister Modi to allow export of protective equipment- masks and pharmaceutical raw materials to Israel during a telephonic conversation.

President Rouhani of the Islamic nation of Iran had also pleaded before PM Modi by writing a letter–to steer his country through the COVID-19 pandemic. Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the Wuhan Virus.

Meanwhile, the Communist regime of China is looking to wash away its hands from the entire epidemic fiasco which snowballed into a global pandemic after it hid the severity of the virus from the world. After stalling the number of cases in the country, Beijing is trying to re-write the narrative. In a rather quid pro quo style, China is showering struggling European nations with aid as part of a diplomatic charm offensive. 

It has donated hundreds of thousands of surgical masks and test kits to the Philippines and Pakistan sent teams of medics to Iran and Iraq, and extended a $500 million loan to help Sri Lanka combat the virus. Instead of offering a loan to Sri Lanka, China should have offered an aid especially considering the fact that China is the reason why the world collectively has come to a standstill.

Sri Lanka is not best placed when it comes to its debts, besides what happens when the grace period is over? Not so long ago, Sri Lanka was forced to surrender the Hambantota port to China as it was reeling under Chinese debt-trap.

A few weeks back, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian had shared the outrageous conspiracy theory to shift the blame from its house to others. “It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan,” he said on Twitter. “Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!”

At the moment the world is busy in its fight with the deadly novel Wuhan virus but once the dust settles and the cases dry up, China should be made accountable for the damage it has inflicted upon the world. It should be held blameable for the loss of innocent lives. China owes the world repatriations, and it is not limited to monetary aspects. It traverses monetary lines. The world has been turned upside down in the span of a few months. No currency value can reverse the dam