Live desk: As part of India’s Neighborhood First policy and with a view to taking a collaborative regional approach to containing the spread of Covid19. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with leaders of other SAARC Countries held a video conference on 15 March 2020.

Taking forward India’s commitment to the region, 30,000 surgical masks and 15,000 head-cover were handed over as assistance from India to Government of Bangladesh on Wednesday. Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Riva Ganguly Das handed over the assistance to Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday. The assistance is intended to support the efforts of Government of Bangladesh in tackling the spread of Covid19.

This tranche of assistance is an initial emergency supply under the Covid19 Emergency Fund announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setup with an initial contribution of 10 Million USD by India. Following the announcement, various SAARC Nations including Government of Bangladesh has contributed to the Covid19 Emergency Fund (Details: http://covid19-sdmc.org/covid19-emergency-fund).

As a friend and neighbor, India is ready to stand with Bangladesh in times of challenge. Working together, India, Bangladesh and other SAARC Countries can overcome the extraordinary situation created by the spread of Covid19.

Dhaka 25 March (campuslive24.com)//tr