By IANS
Beijing : A joint team of Chinese and Indian doctors will provide free medical services in some of the poorest regions of India later this year in memory of an Indian doctor who died serving in China over 70 years ago.
A China India Joint Medical Mission (CIJMM) has been set up during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing to serve the rural populations of the two countries.
Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao helped inaugurate the Mission at a special ceremony at the Great Hall of the People Monday.
The two leaders issued commemorative certificates to mission members before greeting 20 doctors from India and China.
The doctors will first serve in Hebei province in north China, the China Daily Tuesday quoted Zhang Jinting, China’s team leader, as saying.
“In some counties, where medical conditions were extremely bad, members of the team will offer free home service and donate some medicines,” he added. “The joint mission is also expected to visit India by the end of the year.”
He said all the medical services offered by the doctors would be free. These would include medical consultations and drugs.
The newspaper said the doctors had been charged with perpetuating the spirit of cooperation first forged by Dwarkanath Kotnis, an Indian doctor who came to China in 1938 and helped the country during the armed resistance against Japanese occupation.
Kotnis died of illness in China at the age of 32 in 1942, a year after he married a Chinese nurse. His name is seen as a symbol of “enduring friendship” between the Indian and Chinese people.
“What Kotnis did 70 years ago was really commendable and we want to carry on with all that spirit,” said Puneet Goel, leader of the Indian delegation.