Pakistan’s Edhi Foundation Offers To Send 50 Ambulances To Help India Fight COVID-19 Surge

Pakistan’s Edhi Foundation, renowned for its humanitarian relief work and which runs the country’s largest free ambulance services, on Friday offered to send a fleet of 50 ambulances to India to help combat the massive surge in COVID-19 cases, which is crumbling down the country’s health care system.

Faisal Edhi, the managing trustee of the Edhi Foundation wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting permission to enter India with a team of volunteers and 50 ambulances to help assist in the pandemic.

“We are very sorry to hear about the exceptionally heavy impact that the pandemic has had on your country, where a tremendous number of people are suffering immensely. As a neighbouring friend, we sympathise with you greatly and during this strenuous time, we would like to extend our help in the form of a fleet of 50 ambulances along with our services to assist you in addressing, and further circumventing, the current health conditions,” reads the letter, which was sent by the Foundation.

“We look forward to assisting you in managing the current humanitarian crises and hope only to provide our help in whatever way that we can, for the benefit of the people of India,” it added.

Faisal Edhi said that he only needs permission to enter the country with his ambulances and support staff and that he doesn’t needs any other help.

“We will arrange all the necessary supplies that our team needs to assist the people of India. Importantly, we are not requesting any other assistance from you, as we are providing the fuel, food, and necessary amenities that our team will require,” he said.

“We only request your permission to enter India as well as any necessary guidance from the local administration and police department,” the letter said.

Edhi Foundation was founded by Abdul Sattar Edhi, a hero in Pakistan for his philanthropic work. The foundation now runs the largest volunteer ambulance network in the world, along with homeless shelters, orphanages, animal shelters, and rehabilitation centres across Pakistan. Since his death on July 8, 2016, the Edhi Foundation has been run primarily by his son Faisal.

The offer from the Edhi Foundation comes shortly after Pakistanis took to Twitter using the hashtag #IndiaNeedsOxygen urging their prime minister Imran Khan to help India fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many people from both sides of the border are welcoming this gesture of the organisation calling it true to the legacy of the Foundation which was established by Abdul Sattar Edhi.