As Pandemic Surges in India, US Offers Oxygen and Related Supplies

NEW DELHI—The United States has decided to support India with oxygen cylinders, oxygen generation systems, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, therapeutics, personal protective equipment, tests, and other related supplies as India struggles with a huge surge in COVID cases. Critics say the help has been slow in coming.

For the past five days, India has set a new world record for a single-day increase in coronavirus cases, with over 300,000 new cases each day and a peak of 352,991 new cases on April 26. There have been over 17 million total cases since the pandemic began.

“India is facing a huge surge right now, and there’s a lot of support that we’re currently exploring and what we’re providing that will be helpful on the ground immediately,” said White House senior administration officials in a press call on April 26.

“At India’s request, we’re exploring options to provide oxygen and related supplies.  These are resources that India has specifically requested and are very high on their priority list.”

On the same day as the press call, President Joe Biden had a call with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the two leaders decided to work “closely together” to fight the pandemic and protect their “citizens and the health” of their communities.

“Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need,” the president earlier said in a message on Twitter on Monday.

National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan also had a call with his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval on Monday and the two advisors talked about the long-standing partnership of India and the United States in fighting battles against “smallpox, polio, and HIV.” Sullivan told Doval that the United States will deploy a team of public health advisors from the CDC and USAID to work with the U.S. Embassy, Indian Healthy Ministers, and India’s Epidemic Intelligence Staff.

“The United States has identified sources of specific raw material urgently required for Indian manufacture of the Covishield vaccine that will immediately be made available for India,” said Emily Horne, the spokesperson of the National Security Council in a statement.

 

A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, under a tent installed along the roadside amid THE COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in Ghaziabad, India, on April 26, 2021. (Sajjad Hussain/Getty Images)

Response Criticized

Michael Kugelman, the deputy director and the Senior Associate for South Asia at the Washington DC-based Wilson Center told The Epoch Times over the phone that the Biden administration decision to provide assistance to India is “certainly a welcome decision” and its a “precious, comprehensive assistance package,” but it should have come earlier.

He said it’s more of a way to express support and solidarity with Indian people rather than providing assistance because India and the United States have a “broad-based partnership.”

“The public diplomacy aspect of the U.S. response could have been better. The messaging could have been more immediate. But I think at the end of the day what’s important is that help is on the way,” said Kugelman.

Dr. Harsh Pant, Director of the Studies and Head of the Strategic Studies Programme at New Delhi based Observer Research Foundation also said that the U.S. response to this “tragedy” was a bit late.

“I think the optics of the complete silence on the part of America for the past few days has been visibly noted in India, and I think there’s a sense of outrage in India,” he said.

The press in India have noticed the remarks of State Department spokesperson Ned Price in an April 22 press briefing. While responding to a question about supporting India during the recent crisis, Price said that America had a “special responsibility” to first take care of its own citizens.

A few days later the message from Sullivan to Doval sent a more supportive message.

Earlier during this month, the U.S. Navy’s 7th fleet carried out a “freedom of navigation” operation through India’s special economic zone area near the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian sea without seeking India’s prior consent.

Though the U.S. administration later said it was an innocent move, Pant said there are people in India who are “connecting various dots,” and there’s some negativity against the Biden administration in India currently.

Raising Oxygen for India

The White House senior administration officials told the reporters that the Department of Defense and the USAID are looking for options to provide oxygen generation systems, and the Department of State is currently finalizing ways to arrange for oxygen, including cylinders, for India.

“We also have the Department of Defense working on oxygen generation systems, including larger-scale as well as smaller-scale units,” said the officials, adding that the United States used oxygen generation systems in its field hospitals for 50-100 beds during the pandemic.

“And I’ll stress that some of these elements are in the exploration phase; they’re shorter- and longer-term options that we’re providing in the immediate, and then we plan to continue to be engaged over the longer term,” said the officials.

The U.S. administration is also exploring the provision of oxygen concentrators and ventilators and is working out with India to make sure the U.S. equipment works with the Indian devices and necessary training will also be provided.

Other categories of assistance that the United States is providing include therapeutics, personal protective equipment, and tests, and the United States is immediately making available commercial supplies of the therapeutic remdesivir for Indian patients.