As China struggles with a novel coronavirus outbreak that has affected more than 72000 people and killed 1900 people till now, China has thanked India for showing kindness and timely help during the outbreak.
As per reports, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong expressed gratitude for India’s help to his country in the struggle against coronavirus.
Referring to Indian Doctor Dwarkanath Kotnis who died while treating injured soldiers in conflict with Japan in the 1940s, who is a revered figure in China, Ambassador Sun said, “At these difficult times, I am deeply touched by the kindness of Indian friends. All these reminded me of the time when Dr Kotnis saved many lives and made a great contribution to the Chinese people’s liberation cause.”
He added, “The Indian side assured the readiness to stand by China and provide the assistance that India can, to face this challenge. It also reminds me of what I experienced during the outbreak of SARS in 2003. At that time, I had the honour to receive a delegation from India led by the then foreign minister George Fernandes who visited Shanghai during the epidemic.”
Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong recounted 2003 visit by India’s then defence minister George Fernandes to China when it was reeling under #SARS epidemic, urges New Delhi to review restrictions imposed on trade & movement of people between 2 countries due #Coronavirus outbreak.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 18, 2020
He asserted that China has put in place multi-level control and prevention mechanisms and they are confident that they will win the battle against coronavirus. The envoy explaining his preparedness against the deadly epidemic said, “China has allocated RMB 80 billion to contain the disease and the government has sufficient resources and policy tools to cope with economic fluctuations following the epidemic.”
Thanking Prime Minister Modi, Ambassador sun said, “Recently, PM Modi sent a letter to President Xi Jinping, expressing his recognition of the tremendous effort made by the Chinese government to deal with the outbreak.”
India had lifted the export ban China and had sent two large consignments of medical supplies to China recently.
The Chinese envoy also claimed that the cure rate of infected patients has been increasing and the number of confirmed cases outside of Hubei province has been coming down gradually. He also called the reports of the virus being leaked from a lab as rumours and stated that the virus is not man-made, it has come from nature.
