US will donate ventilators, cooperate on COVID-19 vaccine development to help India: Trump

In a big development, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States will donate ventilators to India to support the country in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Trump took to Twitter on Saturday, May 16 to announce the move and added that US stands 'with India and Narendra Modi during this pandemic', sending a message of solidarity as he tagged PM Modi's official account on the tweet.     

Trump had earlier announced a COVID-19 vaccine development team, exulting confident that US will be able to produce and deliver over a hundred million doses of the crucial vaccine by the end of 2020.

The US President dubbed the project 'Operation Warp Speed' and added that the team is evaluating 14 vaccine candidates with a budget of $10 billion. The project will be led by US Army General Gustave Perne and former GlaxoSmithKline vaccine head Dr. Moncef Slaoui. 

Read: Donald Trump Says White House Will Make Announcement Related To WHO Next Week

US thanks India for HCQ supply 

India had earlier supplied large shipments of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to help US fight Covid-19. Trump had thanked Prime Minister Modi for allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine to the US, deemed as a possible cure for the deadly coronavirus, saying India's help in the extraordinary times "will not be forgotten".

"Thank you, Prime Minister for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump said in his tweet that went viral and was retweeted more than 60,000 times and liked by over two lakh people. 

(With agency inputs)

Read: PM Modi Responds To US President Trump's Praise For India's Big HCQ Decision Amid Covid-19

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