China says in communication with India to provide help to combat COVID-19 surge

Beijing, April 23

China on Friday said it firmly supports the Indian government and the people in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic and is in communication with New Delhi on its offer to provide support and help to deal with the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that China expresses sincere sympathies to India over the deteriorating coronavirus situation in the country recently.

“The Chinese government and people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting the coronavirus,” he said.

“China is ready to provide support and help according to India’s need, and is in communication with the Indian side on this. We believe that the Indian people will defeat the virus at an early date,” Zhao said in response to a question from the official Chinese media if Beijing is having communications with New Delhi on providing help to India fight the pandemic.

On Thursday also China offered to provide the necessary support and assistance to India to deal with the sharp increase in the COVID-19 cases in the country.

The first COVID-19 case was reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and since then the deadly disease has become a pandemic that has affected more than 14,47,71,300 people and claimed over 30,72,600 lives worldwide.

According to Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the US alone has reported 3,18,62,987 cases and 5,69,404 deaths from the deadly virus.

The US has alleged that the COVID-19 may have emanated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) which is a P-4 bio lab, a charge strongly denied by China.

A team of WHO experts, which probed the origin of the coronavirus, concluded last month that “all hypotheses” included the allegation that COVID-19 could have emanated from a bio lab “remained open”.

India is currently facing a massive surge in coronavirus infections. India on Friday added a record over 3.32 lakh new coronavirus cases in a single day taking the country’s tally to 1,62,63,695, while active cases crossed the 24-lakh mark. PTI

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