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China offers to help India tackle Covid-19 outbreak after US vaccine snub
- Beijing’s pledge comes as its neighbour is battling the world’s highest number of cases
- The offer comes despite the ongoing tensions along their disputed border and follows a US refusal to export the raw materials needed to make vaccines
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China has offered to help India battle its Covid-19 outbreak after the United States declined a request to lift a ban on exporting vaccine raw materials.
The olive branch from the Chinese foreign ministry comes as tensions between the two nations continue to run high along their disputed border.
“The Chinese government and people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting the coronavirus. China is ready to provide support and help according to India’s needs, and is in communication with the Indian side on this,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday.
India is currently battling the world’s highest number of cases, with a record 346,786 new cases reported on Saturday, and its hospital system is on the edge of collapse due to shortages of intensive care beds, medical supplies and oxygen.
India is also running low on vaccines and has asked the US to lift an export ban on the raw materials needed to make them, but Washington declined saying it had a responsibility to look after the American people first.
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