India and Israel have always enjoyed a good military, economic and strategic partnership. This relationship further solidified when India provided special authorization to Israel to procure medicine, masks and PPE. Now, Israel is returning the favour by helping India develop a rapid testing kit for the COVID-19 virus.
Israeli Scientists Head to India
Israeli officials stated that a plane carrying novel devices and ventilators are all set to arrive in India from Tel Aviv. More importantly, there is a delegation of 20 senior Israeli officials from the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DRDD) yet to arrive. The said delegation is headed by the Israeli Ambassador of India, Mr Ron Malka, infectious diseases expert Prof. Nati Keller and Military Attaché, India Col. Asaf Meller. Further, they said that they are looking forward to working with their Indian counterparts to find a competent and rapid testing methodology.
Components of the Test
The DRDD in a press release stated that the test would comprise of four tech systems that would be tested. Those being, voice test, breathalyzer test based on terra-hertz waves, iso-thermal test and poly amino acids test. Further, DRDD highlight that all these tests will help in detecting the coronavirus within minutes. To ensure the said plan, the scientists from Israel will be testing this out on a large number of infected people in the nation.
Countries Unite to Solve the Global Challenge
In recent times, the Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have had three telephonic conversations. In due course, they have promised mutual assistance in fighting the virus. Subsequently, they have pledged to collaborate in scientific research and development to do the same. Accordingly, the team from Israel will be working with the Defence Research and Development Organisation. Moreover, Israelites confirm that their advanced technologies can be produced at a large scale in India, considering India’s production and development capabilities. Also, they hope to export this to developing countries at a low price.
Israel and India Fight Against COVID-19
India has recorded a high number of COVID-19 cases. Israel, on the other hand, has advanced technologies to help combat the virus. This relationship will be mutually beneficial to both countries and will also provide positive results to the world if successful. In conclusion, as Mr Roy Malka rightly pointed out, this is a global coronavirus challenge that can be solved only with global co-operation among countries.