Strong ties evident during pandemic: Indian envoy

Abu Dhabi - The envoy said the UAE offered this assistance without even passing the cost to India and "took it upon themselves".

UAE is the only GCC country that ensured that every Indian repatriated was screened for Covid-19, the Indian ambassador to the UAE, Pavan Kapoor, has said.
The close cooperation between the two countries is a direct result of the strong bilateral ties, he added.
"UAE was extremely forthcoming in helping us repatriate our nationals. It is the only country that made sure that all flight passengers were tested using the IGG/IGM rapid test before departing to India. And when in doubt, the person was held back," said Kapoor in an interview with Khaleej Times.
"That is an important collaboration because it offered a huge comfort for India in knowing the health condition of the returning residents," he added.
The envoy said the UAE offered this assistance without even passing the cost to India and "took it upon themselves".
Kapoor said when the coronavirus started spreading, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke over the phone and offered to support each other.
"This was followed by a conversation between our foreign ministers and then we saw it in practice."
The envoy said India also extended a helping hand to the UAE by supplying medicines and healthcare workers to help in the fight of coronavirus.
He said India fast-tracked procedures to supply over 30 million hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets to the UAE to fight Covid-19 infections.
"We removed the restriction on the medicines and made it available (for the UAE). Then we had a request for Indian healthcare workers. We immediately processed their travel and more than 400 healthcare workers, including doctors have come here in the last two-three months to assist UAE in the fight against Covid-19."
Kapoor said India also appreciated UAE's medical assistance in supplying PPE kits and sanitisers. "These are all direct result of this close relationship that we built up right from the top and it permeates down to other levels also that we were able to work closely," said the ambassador.
anjana@khaleejtimes.com 

• Abu Dhabi