New Delhi (NVI) Taiwan has provided one million face masks to India to help protect frontline medical personnel, reflecting the spirit of “Taiwan can help! And Taiwan is helping” and calling for greater international cooperation.
The masks were brought to India by a special chartered flight on May 4, 2020, and were handed over by Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien to Neel Kamal Singh, Deputy Secretary-General of Indian Red Cross Society on May 8 at a ceremony.
Taiwan’s first large-scale humanitarian assistance initiative was launched in April in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Taiwan has so far donated nearly 25.5 million face masks and other medical supplies to the United States, European Union member states, other European nations, diplomatic allies, 18 countries across Indo-Pacific and some African and Middle East countries.
“Taiwan has shown to the world that due to the preemptive preparations, the right policy implemented by the Government, the trust established by the people towards the Government and the lesson learned after the 2003 SARS, Taiwan has been recognized and praised greatly by international communities and countries around the world in terms of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tien said.
He complimented the extraordinary efforts made by the Indian Government in curtailing the spread of COVID-19 and also conveyed Taiwan’s concern and best wishes to the Government and Indian citizens.
The Ambassador expressed strong confidence that India will prevail over the challenges and restore momentum and economic growth, the Government of Taiwan will continue to evaluate the evolution of the pandemic, its domestic demand, and situations of friendly countries to make a further timely contribution to the international community.
Deputy Secretary-General Singh commended that Taiwan has set a norm in epidemic prevention and containing.
He also expressed a deep appreciation for Taiwan’s timely donation and guaranteed that Indian Red Cross Society will properly allocate the masks to frontline medical personnel to help protect them during combating the pandemic.
