Switzerland, which has sent medical supplies worth CHF 3 million (over Rs 24 crore) to India to fight the COVID crisis, on Friday asserted that the Swiss government stands with India in its hour of need and will provide assistance to the country. As India battles spiralling COVID cases, Swiss companies have also pledged medical relief worth over CHF 7 million (over Rs 56 crore) and the first of several supplies is expected to reach the national capital by Saturday. “Whenever India is in need, we try to be of assistance just as India is of assistance to so many countries when they are in need,” Swiss Ambassador to India Ralf Heckner told PTI in an interview on Friday.
Switzerland has sent 600 oxygen concentrators and 50 respirators worth about CHF 3 million (over Rs 24 crore) to assist hospitals in India. A cargo aircraft carrying more than 13 tonnes of medical supplies from Switzerland arrived in New Delhi on Friday morning. The consignment comprises 600 oxygen concentrators, purchased by Swiss Humanitarian Aid from private sector suppliers, and 50 respirators donated by the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). The supplies include body bags, the Swiss Embassy said in a release. Asserting that Switzerland stands with India in its hour of need, Heckner said that at this point, the objective is to get all possible assistance to the country. The total value of the medical supplies sent by Switzerland is around CHF 3 million and a significant proportion of the amount was covered by the DDPS, which donated the respirators for patients in intensive care.
Swiss Humanitarian Aid, which is part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), mobilised additional funds to purchase the remaining supplies, in particular oxygen concentrators, and to cover transport costs. Heckner pointed out that the main message is that the Swiss government and private sector stand in solidarity with India. Switzerland is part of the solution when it comes to winning this war against COVID as India is. There are more than 300 Swiss businesses located in India and around 120 Indian corporates are operating in Switzerland. On his views about scepticism in certain quarters about the utilisation of humanitarian aid received by India, Heckner said that Switzerland is not delivering the items to end users in India, and that is done by the Indian Red Cross Society through the Ministry of Health. “Earlier, I was head of a crisis management centre and I learnt some lessons there. At the beginning of a crisis, it needs some time to define the right structures and processes to deal with the crisis. That is what exactly we are seeing here.
“Any government is defining structures and processes to deal with the crisis and also to deliver… So, let’s give any government some more time to finalise the structures and processes on how to deal with that crisis,” he noted. Heckner said there is a global interest that India gets through this crisis as quickly as possible in order to be part and parcel of the solution in winning the war against COVID. “I was very impressed by India’s COVID diplomacy early on… When we get through this together, we have to always try to see light at the end of the tunnel… I see the situation like the one with the World War and flu situation. After the World War and the flu, we had the roaring 20s and that was the time of great optimism, scientific innovation and cooperation. “So, at the end of the tunnel, there will be light and that will be an opportunity for Switzerland and India to make this world a better place. We are not yet there,” he said. In a release on Friday, Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce said close to 40 Swiss companies have already come together and pledged medical relief worth over CHF 7 million for India’s fight against COVID.
The medical relief package includes oxygen concentrators, rapid antigen test kits, ventilators, portable suction pumps, helmets with ventilation for medical staff, masks, diabetes care products and sanitizers. The material will be distributed with the support of the Indian Red Cross Society as well as directly by Swiss companies, many of which also provide local support. This relief package adds to the on-going efforts of Swiss companies in India by way of setting up oxygen generation plants, distributing oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, masks as well as facilitating vaccination, the release said. Stressing that Switzerland is one of the important commercial and investment partners of India, the Ambassador said both countries will work together to make the world a better place. “It was good to hear Indian Prime Minister talking about human-centric multilateralism. This is very much like Swiss politics works… We definitely need to focus much more on what is good for our people and for the people of the world in order to avoid the next pandemic and in order to have an international system that is able to cope with pandemics and global crisis at large,” he pointed out.
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