China sends 6.5 lakh Covid test kits to India; ICMR's test-tally currently at 2.74 lakh

Amid alarming coronavirus crisis in the country, India’s Ambassador at Beijing Vikram Misri, on Thursday confirmed that a total of 650,000 kits, including Rapid Antibody Tests and RNA Extraction Kits have been despatched to India  from Guangzhou Airport of Chinato. 

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Earlier Misri had said that smooth procurement of kits and protection gears at stable prices will send the “best signal possible” for Sino-Indian ties. As its factories resumed operations after over two-month of grim battle against coronavirus, China is busy tapping into the vast business opportunities of export of key medical goods, specially ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE), across the world, including India, where both private and government bodies are placing orders for the import of these products.

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The envoy had also said India is procuring a host of medical equipment from both domestic and international firms as part of its efforts to expand hospital facilities across the country to deal with coronavirus cases. “The requirement in India at this time is medical equipment such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and kits, masks, gloves, ventilators, etc, and China is a very large and significant producer of these products."
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“I think facilitation of our needs and our requirements in a timely manner, in a smooth manner, on a predictable timeline at prices that are stable and orderly, would be the best signal possible to send for the India-China relationship,” he said.

India had earlier appreciated efforts by China to ensure the quality of goods being exported and requested the Chinese government to expedite the new registration process of the local companies, which have been supplying the materials to India in the past. China on Friday last stepped up quality checks on exports of 11 categories of medical products, including masks, protective suits, goggles and ventilators, following a string of complaints from several countries about the faulty and substandard supplies.

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