Singapore govt sends 256 oxygen cylinders to India as coronavirus aid

'This initiative complements the numerous relief efforts and contributions in Singapore to bring humanitarian relief to India in this time of need,' says Singapore's minister Dr Maliki Osman

After Singapore sent a consignment of oxygen cylinders to support India’s pandemic response, Dr Maliki Osman, Singapore's Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, hailed the "close relationship" between the two countries. 

Osman handed over Singapore’s humanitarian assistance to High Commissioner of the Republic of India, P Kumaran, earlier today at Paya Lebar Air Base. In his remarks, Minister Maliki reaffirmed the strong bilateral relations and highlighted that "Singaporeans stand in solidarity with our friends in India in their fight against the pandemic".

"This initiative, arranged at short notice, is testament to the close collaboration and partnership across multiple agencies on both sides. This initiative complements the numerous relief efforts and contributions in Singapore to bring humanitarian relief to India in this time of need," he said.

"While our contribution is modest, we hope that it will bring comfort and relief to those in need and encourage those on the frontline in India, who are working tirelessly, to fight on," the minister further said. 

"In addition, we hope that this will add momentum to the work undertaken by Singaporeans, our private entities, our civil society organisations, including the Singapore Red Cross, to contribute to India’s efforts against COVID-19," he added.

"The contribution represents our solidarity with India in its fight against the pandemic, and the least we could do after India helped the world in exporting vaccines and medicines, and keeping critical supply chains open since the start of the pandemic. It is a small contribution but we hope it will help support last-mile delivery of oxygen in India. As far as we are aware, Singapore is among the first countries to contribute cylinders at the Govt level. 7511 oxygen concentrators, 516 BiPAPs, and 256 oxygen cylinders have either arrived or are on their way to India ASAP. We have also facilitated the shipment of 8 cryogenic tanks with more on the way," said Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong.