President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a telephone conversation that he plans to ship the first 100 ventilators out of 200 machines next week, he plans to donate to India.
Trump first announced a plan to donate the ventilators through a tweet on May 16, when he said both sides were also working on developing a Covid-19 vaccine.
According to the White House Pool Report, on Tuesday, the donation of ventilators was made on President Trump’s phone call to PM Modi, the President said he is happy to announce the US is ready to ship next week the first tranche of 100 donated ventilators in India.
The next G7 summit, the Covid-19 response by both countries, and the regional security issues were also discussed by both leaders in September. PM Modi was invited by President Trump to attend the G7.
Last month, Ramona El Hamzaoui, acting director of India’s US International Development Agency (USAID), told reporters: “This is a donation. The US government plans to donate 200 ventilators to India.”
“USAID, on behalf of the US and through the generosity of the American people is providing access to medical supplies and ventilators to India and other countries,” she added.
USAID has collaborated on supplying, transportation, and placement ventilators with the Indian Ministry of Health, the Indian Red Cross Society, and other stakeholders across the countries.
The US government, private enterprises, non-profit and academic organizations have shared their expertise in the production of ventilators and other equipment with partner countries such as India.
USAID has until now announced $5.9 million in funding to India for the fight against Covid-19 including $2.9 million in care, information-providing, contact-posting and surveillance, and $3 million in funding for private sector funds to support more than 20,000 health facilities registered under the Indian health insurance scheme.