The United States (US) is expected to ship the first tranche of 100 donated ventilators to India next week, President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a conference call, the White House said. “The president was happy to announce that the United States would be ready to ship the first tranche of 100 donated ventilators to India next week,” the White House said.
On Tuesday, both leaders discussed the G-7 (summit), the coronavirus response, and other regional security issues. Trump spoke about the US presidency of the Group of seven, and conveyed his desire to expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India.
Trump extended an invitation to Prime Minister Modi to attend the next G-7 Summit to be held in the US, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement. India would be happy to work with the US and other countries to ensure the success of the proposed Summit, the PMO said citing Modi as saying.
The richness and depth of India-US consultations will remain an important pillar of the post-coronavirus global architecture, Modi had tweeted. The two leaders also exchanged views on other topical issues, such as the COVID-19 situation in the two countries, the situation on the India-China border, and the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation, the PMO said.
Meanwhile, Trump recently said in a Twitter post the United States had told India and China that it was ready to arbitrate their raging border dispute. “We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute,” Trump had tweeted. However, India steered clear of Trump’s offer to mediate on the China issue, saying it is in talks with Beijing on the same.
