Pakistan’s Edhi Foundation offers medical aid to India amid Covid crisis

KARACHI – Prominent charity from Pakistan, Edhi Foundation, has offered medical assistance to India amid deepening health crisis due to devastating second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the neighbouring country.

In a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the head of the charity Faisal Edhi said that they are ready to send a fleet of 50 ambulances and a humanitarian team if they are allowed to enter India.

"We sympathise with you greatly and during this strenuous time, we would like to extend our help in the form of a fleet of 50 ambulances along with our services to assist you in addressing, and further circumventing, the current health conditions. I ... am personally offering to lead and manage the humanitarian team from my organization," the letter read.

He further said that he wished to support the Indian authorities without causing any inconvenience to the country, adding that the charity will arrange all the necessary supplies to provide assistance, including fuel and food, among other things.

Edhi Foundation Pakistan writes to Indian PM @narendramodi offering humanitarian assistance of 50 fully equipped ambulances along with staff as India’s health services capacity chokes due to rising COVID-19 cases.#IndiaNeedsOxygen #IndianLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/cdztmNODmd

— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) April 23, 2021

"In order to implement our proposed service, we only request your permission to enter India as well as any necessary guidance from the local administration and police department. We are willing and ready to deploy our team into any critical areas of concern at your direction without hesitation," the letter read.

India, with over 16.2 million cases in total, is reporting record number of daily infection with alarming situation in hospitals which are running out of oxygen and beds.