Seeing India facing its worst health and humanitarian crisis, the who’s who of the Indian diaspora in the United States has swiftly moved into action to arrest the spread of the “India variant” of the coronavirus, which many fear may move to other parts of the world, eventually bringing the globe back to its knees like last year.\
The Joe Biden administration has moved into action, pumping in the resources at its disposal to steer India out of this critical stage. Official sources in Indian techie groups confirmed that the CEOs of about 40 top American companies, mostly belonging to the Indian diaspora, have come together to create a first-of-its-kind country-specific global task force to mobilise resources and coordinate efforts to help India fight the Covid-19 battle.
A collective initiative of the US-India Business Council of the US Chamber of Commerce, and the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) and Business Roundtable, during its meeting on Monday, committed to getting 20,000 oxygen concentrators to India in the next few weeks, said Deloitte CEO Punit Renjen.
Calling it the “Global Task Force on Pandemic Response: Mobilising for India”, the US public-private partnership is set to provide India critical medical supplies, vaccines, oxygen and other life-saving assistance amid an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases.
Indicating a significant shift in the US’ diplomatic thrust on India and the way the US administration under President Biden has moved in the last few days to support New Delhi’s call for global help to contain this health crisis, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed this unique global task force meeting. Blinken tweeted: “The conversation showed how the United States and India can leverage the expertise and capabilities of the US private sector towards solutions for India’s COVID-19 crisis.”
Additionally, a Boston-based chamber has appealed to the White House and Congress to leverage and deploy all available resources to help India, raising fears that any delay in help from the US to India will be a disaster.
It is learnt that Secretary Blinken also had Zoom call with US CEOs amid PM Modi’s call with President Biden, while the US Army and the US State Department are coordinating medication, aid and equipment.
Talking to The Daily Guardian, Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of USISPF said: “Fighting the pandemic effectively will require concerted action on all fronts. At this time, the need is enormous, and all resources have to be pooled. We are working closely with the Government of India to ensure the seamless movement of critical equipment and supplies. USISPF will be soon setting up a dedicated web portal to centralize the efforts of individuals and other companies.”
The support for India is pouring from all sectors and professions in the US. A top Silicon Valley techie said, requesting anonymity: “All top brands, including Amazon, Google, IBM, JP Morgan, FedEx, Walmart, Coke, Johnson &Johnson, Pfizer are aware that the impact in India will impact the world- both on health and economic…The US wants to work with various institutions in India as they believe a lot of aid will be locked up in Delhi and not get to the states as speed is critical.”
Sources said that the US is also sending several military mobile hospitals for ICUs and a large number of vaccines and raw material to make vaccines in India are being shipped too. Another top source added that extra stock of oxygen equipment is being diverted from war field hospitals to India. Google is helping India with tracking of Covid spread. Many US firms in India have offered their empty offices to be used as vaccine centres.
Separately, individual contributions from US states and groups are also coming to India soon. California, which has the highest concentration of Indian-Americans, will send life-saving oxygen supplies to India to deal with the crisis. “Everyone deserves quality medical treatment against this terrible disease, and California will answer the call and provide aid to the people of India who so desperately need it,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said. The California state’s medical support includes 275 oxygen concentrators, 440 oxygen cylinders, 240 oxygen regulators, 210 pulse oximeters, and one Deployable Oxygen Concentrator Systems (DOCS), which is capable of producing 120 litres per minute of oxygen and is generally used to fill large cylinders.”
An Indian-American group led by several doctors, who trace their origin to Bihar and Jharkhand, has launched a free telemedicine helpline for Covid-19 patients back home.
USISPF has placed orders to source 100,000 portable oxygen concentrators to be shipped to India immediately. USISPF is already in touch with manufacturers in the US, Mexico, Malaysia and China. USISPF has also approached companies in the US to supply and/or donate ICU beds, Covid-Test kits, N-95 Masks and other medical equipment. We expect the shipments to begin as early as Tuesday or Wednesday (US time), said Aghi.