The government in the northeast Indian state of Assam on Wednesday imported 50,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits from China for the frontline healthcare workers combating the Covid-19 pandemic in the state. India has ordered 15 million PPE gears besides a few million testing kits from China, India's Ambassador in Beijing Vikram Misri had revealed yesterday. The orders have been placed by several state governments and both public and private health sector.

On Wednesday evening, China sent a special aircraft carrying 50,000 PPE kits from Guangzhou city. The consignment was received in the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport at Guwahati by Assam's Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma along with his deputy Pijush Hazarika.

Sharing pictures of the aircraft on Twitter, Sarma said that the government's priority was to save lives. "Keeping life first as the motive, we are glad to have imported, 50,000 PPE kits from Guangzhou, China...A big reassurance for our doctors & nurses," he tweeted.

Yesterday, Misri had said that India planned to procure three million Covid-19 testing kits, half of which have already been delivered by China. India's current target is to produce and procure a total of 17 million PPE sets and tens and thousands of ventilators to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

"Their smooth procurement at stable prices will send the best signal possible for Sino-Indian ties," he had said.

Ever since its factories resumed operations after over a two-month-long lockdown in Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic first originated, China has been busy exporting medical equipment across the world, including India.