EU, Germany promise to assist India in fight against Covid-19

The European Union and Germany today promised assistance to India to help fight the second wave of Covid-19 that threatens to overwhelm the country's healthcare infrastructure.

A senior official of the EU, the 27-nation bloc, said the European Union has already activated its Civil Protection Mechanism to mobilise support for India including urgently supplying oxygen and medicines.

Under the mechanism, the EU plays a central role in coordinating its responses to emergencies in Europe and beyond.

As India reels under a massive spike in coronavirus cases, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the EU stands in "full solidarity" with the people of India.

"Alarmed by the epidemiological situation in India. We are ready to support. The EU is pooling resources to respond rapidly to India's request for assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism," Leyen said in a tweet.

Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Crisis Management in charge of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, said the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) is coordinating with member states to urgently provide oxygen and medicines to India.

"Upon request for assistance by #India, we have activated the #EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The European Union will do its utmost to mobilise assistance to support people of India," he tweeted.

"Our #ERCC is already coordinating EU MS that are ready to provide urgently needed #oxygen & medicine rapidly," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government is preparing emergency aid for India.

"To the people of India I want to express my sympathy on the terrible suffering that Covid-19 has again brought over your communities," Merkel said in a message shared on Twitter by her spokesman Steffen Seibert.