India an incredibly important partner to the United States: White House

Washington, June 26: India is an "incredibly important" partner to the US in the region and globally, the White House has said, underlining that America is working with the country on wide-ranging issues like economic, strategic, and security.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said that the US took a range of steps to help India to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"India is an incredibly important partner to the United States in the region and globally. We work with India on a range of issues, as you well know -- economic, strategic, security," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.

"The United States certainly took a range of steps, as India was at the early stages of dealing with a rise in the pandemic, to help provide a range of assistance, and we will continue to do that moving forward," Psaki said in response to a question.

In April and May, India struggled with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new cases. Hospitals were reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds. In mid-May, new coronavirus cases in India hit a record daily high with 4,12,262 new infections.

In May, President Joe Biden announced USD 100 million worth of COVID-19 assistance to India.

The US-India Chambers of Commerce Foundation has raised more than USD 1.2 million for coronavirus-related efforts in India.

With record-breaking fundraising, the US-India Chambers of Commerce Foundation has shipped or en route nearly 120 ventilators and over 1,000 oxygen concentrators, a release said on June 3.

Also, India will be a significant recipient of the US vaccines after Biden announced details of his administration's decision to send 25 million COVID-19 shots to countries across the globe.

India has been included in both the identified categories - direct supply to neighbours and partner countries, and under the COVAX initiative.

On June 4, Vice President Kamala Harris personally made a call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inform him about the administration's decision to send tens of thousands of doses of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines to India.