'Side by side with India': UK sends medical equipment to India amid COVID crisis

Britain said it is sending 600 pieces of medical equipment including ventilators to India to help the country in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office said Sunday the first of nine plane-loads of kit would arrive in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The move follows a discussion with the Indian government. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had been due to visit India this week before the worsening situation there forced him to cancel, said Britain stands "side by side with India as a friend and partner" and would do whatever it could to support India through the crisis. The assistance package includes 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators from surplus U.K. stocks.