The Global Task force, comprising 40 top American companies, has been set up to help India in tackling the second wave of covid-19

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar on Thursday interacted through a virtual mode with the US Global Task Force and discussed the priorities like oxygen, vaccines, pharmaceuticals and importance of effective supply chains.

“Discussed our priorities (oxygen, vaccines, pharmaceuticals) and the importance of effective supply chains. Underlined the global implications of a stronger India-US health collaboration," Jaishankar said in his tweet.

Underscoring the strong India-US relations, Dr. Jaishankar tweeted “Interacted with the US Global Task Force on Pandemic Relief. Appreciate the participation of the CEOs and their support for India's current efforts,".

He also said that this meeting, which was held to discuss India’s situation amid the crisis caused by the disastrous second wave of covid-19, was an affirmation of exceptional US-India relationships and he deeply values the sentiments expressed in the meeting.

The aim behind the creation of this Global Task Force was to provide a unified platform for businesses to mobilise and deliver the resources to assist covid-19 efforts in areas which were badly struck by the covid-19 and were in a dire need of medical assistance aid.

The members of the task force's steering committee include Julie Sweet, CEO, Accenture; Andy Jassy, CEO, Amazon; Tim Cook, CEO, Apple; Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America; Raj Subramaniam, president FedEx; and Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM.

The Task Force has been working in close collaboration with US and India officials to to share information and coordinate efforts that included regular briefings with the Modi and Biden administrations, US Congress, US State Department and the US Agency for International Development.

The US has provided key medical assistance and aid including Oxygen concentrators, oxygen plants, hospital beds, medicines and ventilators to help India cope with a disastrous second wave of covid-19.