ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Updated:

An Indian Air Force cargo plane full of medical equipment took off from Ben-Gurion Airport early on Friday loaded with supplies as part of Israel's initiative to send COVID-19 aid to the virus-stricken country.

The equipment is being donated by Israel to India in order to help deal with the severe COVID-19 outbreak that the country has seen over the past several weeks.
The first transport to India arrived in New Delhi on Thursday and included ventilators and thousands of oxygen generators, which were transferred to local hospitals upon arrival. The plane returned on Friday.

Israeli coronavirus aid being prepared to be loaded onto the Indian Air Force cargo plane.
Israeli coronavirus aid being prepared to be loaded onto the Indian Air Force cargo plane. (Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)


"We will stand by India in these difficult days, just as India stood by us in the first weeks of the coronavirus crisis and allowed necessary and urgently needed medical equipment to reach Israel," Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said.The plane was greeted by Indian Ambassador to Israel Sanjeev Singla, and Gilad Cohen, the ministry's Deputy Director-General for Asia and the Pacific. India's embassy thanked Israel in a tweet that read: "Strengthening our strategic partnership. Indian Air Force aircraft carrying 360 oxygen concentrators and 3 large oxygen generator plants is homebound."