Bangladesh is the first partner country to receive these test kits on priority basis reflecting the "importance attached" to the bilateral relationship by India.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das handed over the emergency medical assistance Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on April 29, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured India’s readiness to help Bangladesh in containing the spread of COVID-19 and in mitigating the health and economic impact of the pandemic.

The High Commissioner conveyed that these RT-PCR test kits are domestically manufactured in India by ‘My Lab Discovery Solutions Private Limited’ and is widely used in India for Covid-19 detection. 

In line with India’s Neighborhood First policy and with a view to taking a collaborative regional approach to contain the spread of Covid-19, Prime Minister Modi took the initiative to hold a video conference with leaders of other SAARC Countries on March 15.

Recalling the time-tested friendship between the two countries, Dr Momen appreciated India’s help  following the outbreak of the pandemic. 

He said the testing kits will further step up the number of tests in Bangladesh which is the need of the hour.

This assistance which is covered under the SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Fund is intended to support the efforts of Government of Bangladesh in tackling the spread of Covid-19. 

These test kits which are available for immediate use will assist the Government of Bangladesh in their objective of performing extensive testing. 

The RT-PCR test kits were dispatched to Institute of  Epidemiological Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Government of Bangladesh. 

The test kits were brought to Bangladesh in an Indigo flight and dispatched to IEDCR, all under requisite cold storage requirements.

The SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Fund was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was setup with an initial contribution of US$ 10 million from India, according to Indian High Commission in Dhaka. 

The first tranche of emergency medical assistance under this fund containing 30,000 surgical masks and 15,000 head caps was handed over on March 25 and the second tranche consisting of 50,000 sterile surgical latex gloves and 1,00,000 Hydroxychloroquine medicine tablets were handed over to Government of Bangladesh on April 26.

India has also come forward to help the medical professional of SAARC countries by conducting online courses under  Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) framework. 

Two such e-ITEC courses have been conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Raipur & Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India on April 17-21 and April 27-May 6 respectively. 

Over 150 health professionals from Bangladesh have benefitted from these courses, said the High Commission.

Presently, registrations are being accepted for an e-ITEC course designed especially for Bangladesh and to be conducted in the Bengali language by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar. 

The online course will be conducted from May 12 to 13 May.