India on Wednesday signed a pact with Sri Lanka to supply 100 additional ambulances to the island nation’s emergency service with grant assistance of USD 5.28 million, the Indian mission here said.
The grant was signed and a Memorandum of Understanding was exchanged in the presence of Health Minister J P Nadda. In July 2018, it was expanded country-wide by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, with an additional grant of USD 15.02 million, covering 209 ambulances, their operational expenses and training costs.
BIMSTEC, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, is a regional grouping of seven countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The service was established following a request by the Sri Lankan government during Modi’s visit to the island in March 2015. Health Minister Nadda is in Sri Lanka to attend the first BIMSTEC Health Ministers’ Meeting in Colombo on Wednesday.
