 Good afternoon, and thank you for joining this virtual discussion on a topic very close to all of our hearts My name is Irvin Masinga, and I'm the senior advisor for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the Department of State In this role, I oversee US foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the 13 countries in South and Central Asia I am actively involved with current efforts underway to urgently get assistance to the people of India. It is my pleasure to share a message with you from the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris Good afternoon. I am honored to be with you For years diaspora groups like India, Aspera, and the American India Foundation have built bridges between the United States and India And this past year you have provided vital contributions to COVID-19 relief efforts Thank you for your work. As many of you know, generations of my family come from India My mother was born and raised in India, and I have family members who live in India today The welfare of India is critically important to the United States The surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths in India is nothing short of heartbreaking To those of you who have lost loved ones, I send my deepest condolences As soon as the dire nature of the situation became apparent, our administration took action On Monday, April 26th, President Joe Biden spoke with the Prime Minister to offer our support By Friday, April 30th, military members from the United States and civilians were delivering relief on the ground Already, we have delivered refillable oxygen cylinders with more to come We have delivered oxygen concentrators with more to come We have delivered N95 masks and have more ready to send We have delivered doses of remdesivir to treat COVID patients Meanwhile, we have announced our full support for suspending patents on COVID-19 vaccines To help India and other nations vaccinate their people more quickly India and the United States have the greatest number of COVID-19 cases in the world At the beginning of the pandemic, when our hospital beds were stretched, India sent assistance And today, we are determined to help India in its hour of need We do this as friends of India, as members of the Asian Quad, and as part of a global community I believe that if we continue to work together across nations and sectors, we will all get through this Together, thank you We thank Vice President Harris for taking the time to share those thoughtful remarks And for her support for the COVID-19 relief efforts underway to help India I know many of you are mourning the loss of friends and family members in India And others have been working long hours to provide much needed relief to the people of India Let me begin by assuring each of you that the entire United States government, from President Biden to our team at the embassy and consulates on the ground, is doing everything we can to help India and its people In the last week, six airshipments of vital assistance have landed in India These flights have included health supplies, including oxygen and oxygen supplies And 95 masks, rapid diagnostic tests, and medicine U.S. assistance is expected to be about a hundred million dollars We are bringing to bear the strength, innovation, and unique capabilities of the American people to assist those suffering in India And we recognize that the pandemic will not be over for anyone until it is over for everyone In my 26 years with the Department of State, I've never seen such an outpouring of personal and institutional generosity as we have experienced from the American people all backgrounds in the last month The level of focus and dedication from the private sector, civil society, and community-based organizations, including contributions from Indian Americans, has contributed to ensuring much needed supplies and resources get to those most in need As President Biden said to Prime Minister Modi last week, we will do everything possible to help India at this time President Biden's discussion with Prime Minister Modi last week marks the fourth, their fourth conversation in the administration's first 100 days Secretary Blinken and other senior department officials have also been regularly engaged with their Indian counterparts to address the most recent corona waves As many of you know, the United States and India have been partners on global health for several decades, for seven decades Before COVID-19, we successfully collaborated to battle polio, smallpox, and HIV as well as partnerships through the global health security agenda Today, our CDC and India's Epidemic Intelligence Service remain close collaborators on the current pandemic and USAID programs continue to play a significant role supporting public health in India, including through the COVID pandemic Just as India came to our aid when our own healthcare system was stretched thin at the onset of COVID-19 at this time last year, the United States stands with India now including by addressing oxygen, protective equipment, therapeutics, and other shortages The American private sector has likewise responded with extraordinary and generous donations to the Indian people both directly and in partnership with the United States government Secretary Blinken met with many of the most prominent and important U.S. CEOs last week all of whom expressed solidarity with the people of India and he showed their commitment through the commitment of hundreds of millions of dollars in financial and in-kind assistance to India, both the private financial and in-kind donations immediately enabled India to rapidly acquire critically needed medicine and supplies Across the United States government, we are leveraging resources to address the crisis in India We're joined today by USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia, Anjali Kaur DAA Kaur is an international development professional with vast experience managing integrated global health programs. Before joining USAID, DAA Kaur worked with the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and the World Bank Ma'am Kaur, can you please provide us with an update from USAID's work to support COVID-19 relief efforts in India today and going forward Thank you very much. It's an incredible honor to be with you here today and as a member of the diaspora myself and having worked on public health in India for a number of years, I've been so touched by the magnitude of the outpouring of support for India As you heard from Vice President Harris and from Das Masinga, USAID through the generosity of the American people is rapidly responding to meet India's most urgent and immediate needs as it battles the devastating COVID-19 surge. Our whole of U.S. government response has been immediate, targeted to India's evolving needs and informed by non-stop consultations with our government of India counterparts and a multitude of other stakeholders. Over the past week itself, USAID dispatched six planes in six days to India full of emergency supplies that will save lives and help contain the pandemic. The planes were fully loaded with more than 2,000 oxygen cylinders and concentrators, 2.5 million and 95 masks to protect healthcare professionals and other frontline workers, 1 million rapid diagnostic test kits, and 125,000 vials of medicine to help treat critically ill patients. At the same time, we mobilized our partners in India to immediately expand existing programs to meet urgent needs. For instance, as hospitals across the country ran out of oxygen and related supplies, within days of receiving a request from the government of India, USAID quickly mobilized funding to purchase 1,000 oxygen concentrators. These life-saving units, with a lifespan of more than five years, will provide oxygen to hundreds of primary healthcare facilities. USAID is also supporting the government of India's efforts to establish 150 pressure swing adsorption oxygen-generating plants, which will allow 150 healthcare facilities to generate their own oxygen, rather than rely on oxygen deliveries. The US government's assistance to combat the current crisis so far totals approximately $100 million. But as India's needs evolve, our response will as well. USAID is meeting daily with the government of India counterparts to ensure that our assistance meets urgent needs and is targeted to where it is needed most as quickly as possible. The surge of immediate assistance builds on our 70-year development partnership in USAID's ongoing efforts to mitigate the pandemic in India. USAID's COVID-19 assistance since the beginning of the pandemic has reached millions of Indians across more than 20 states and union territories. We have helped to provide life-saving treatments, disseminate public health messages to local communities, strengthen case-finding and surveillance, as well as mobilize innovative financing mechanisms to bolster emergency preparedness. Of course, none of this work would be possible without our amazing USAID team based in India, who are working tirelessly under incredibly different difficult circumstances. While they themselves are living in the midst of this surge and facing all its perils head-on, they're still managing to orchestrate a complex US response effort. For instance, Rithika Chopra, who has worked for USAID for 10 years and the US government for 20, recently overcame the infection herself. And in an effort to help family, friends, colleagues, navigate the unknowns, Rithika used the same creativity and innovation she brings to her work to create and share a data bank of life-saving information, including where to find hospital beds, oxygen suppliers, food for patients, teleconsultations, and much, much more. Unfortunately, this list has come in handy for so many in our USAID family. We're fortunate to have colleagues such as Rithika and remain inspired by their strength, resilience and leadership and that of all the people of India. Our hearts are with all of them as they battle this incredible surge. Through it all, USAID has received an overwhelming response from both U.S. and Indian companies as well as the Indian diaspora. Evidence by so many of you watching this event today and supporting this crisis in every way possible. Even individual states such as California have responded by partnering with USAID to facilitate a donation of life-saving oxygen supplies. Decades of experience in disaster relief and recovery have shown that the best way to help people affected by disaster is to make cash donations to reputable relief and charitable organizations on the ground. For more information on how you can help people in India affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, please visit the website of the Center for International Disaster Information which is www.cidi.org. For companies looking to support these efforts, please reach out to us at covid-psc.usa.gov. This information will also be shared in the chat. The United States continues to stand with the people of India as we have for more than 70 years and we will fight this global pandemic together. This virus knows no borders and therefore we know the pandemic is not over anywhere until it is over everywhere. Thank you so much. Thank you D.A. Carr and now it's my pleasure to introduce our panelists who will discuss the ways they and their organizations, foundations and communities are working to provide COVID-19 relief in India and how they suggest others can do the same. Zlatka Krishnan is the founder and co-chair of the board of the American Indian Foundation. She is a technology entrepreneur, startup investor and philanthropist as well as a member of numerous public and private boards including the Stanford Medical Center and the London School of Economics' South Asia Center. The Honorable Virginia State Senator Dr. Ghazala Hashmi represents the 10th district in the Senate of Virginia and is the first Muslim woman elected to the Virginia State Senate. She worked as an educator and academic administrator for 25 years before entering politics. Senator Hashmi was the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the J. Sargent Reynolds Community College where she was recognized for improving diversity, inclusion and multicultural enrichment. Mr. M. R. Ongashwamy is the founder and chair of the board of the India diaspora as well as a software executive, investor, entrepreneur, community builder and philanthropist. In addition to co-founding one of the earliest angel investment firms, the Sand Hill Group, he also founded the Corporate Eco-Foreign Forum, an organization for global 500 companies to accelerate ecologically sustainable business innovation. Dr. Ganesha Kaur is an associate professor at Wheel Cornell Medicine and the medical director and the Wheel Cornell Center for Human Rights. Dr. Kaur is an anesthesiologist that specialized in human rights research and is a leader in the American Sikh community that has been working through numerous organizations on COVID education and relief. She holds a B.E.S. from Cornell University's Cornell University and masters in medical anthropology from Harvard University obtained in 2015. Dr. Kaur's research interests are in advancing the clinical care of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. If I may invite Krishnan, we welcome you to kick off our discussion with short remarks followed by Mr. Ramaswamy, Senator Hashimi and Dr. Kaur. Thank you, Irvin. Firstly, thank you Vice President Harris for gracing us with your present today and for your heartfelt comments for India. A sincere thanks to the U.S. State Department, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for your support in organizing this very important dialogue. I'm proud to call myself an American, an America that believes in equality and justice and rises to uplift those who most need us. We thank the administration for all its help thus far. 20 years ago, AIF was born of a national disaster to help rehabilitate families who had lost everything. Just a year ago, COVID-19 virus came into global consciousness. It is important to understand that what happens to India matters to all of us, to us in the United States and to the entire world. We have seen unprecedented support from all corners of the public and private sectors. Over $23 million has been raised by AIF already committed from companies like Mastercard, Adobe, Blackstone, BlackRock, Zscaler and Chubb. But the need is not abating. A fragile healthcare system has been brought to its knees and the poor and marginalized are impacted the most as always. AIF's first order of business is to address the immediate issues of medical equipment and supplies. And it's important to remember that we procure on a needs basis. Transparency is in our DNA. Health is a state subject. State governments have COVID task forces and working with them ensures equitable distribution. We procure for specific end users. So what has AIF done so far? Currently, we've procured 8,500 concentrators from the U.S. and China. AIF is currently airlifting 500 concentrators from the U.S. to Mumbai for distribution in Tata Memorial Center seven hospitals. One concentrator can assist 500 people in a month. We're currently in discussions to build 10 liquid oxygen plants. This is the long-term solution equally important. We're providing cryogenic transportation for moving liquid oxygen from one part of the country to another. We've procured production of portable hospitals that will supply 2000 new beds across India. The first delivery will be this month. And we're also procuring cold storage to be able to transport vaccines at a required temperature to rural and tribal areas of India. These are the needs right now. We must first help those in needs immediately. But to truly turn the tide in India, vaccinations are the key. Just over 110 million people in India have received their first shot. In any other nation, this would be a large milestone. But with a population of 1.4 billion, it is just a beginning. The stated goal of 3 million vaccines per day is now only averaging 1.7 per day. At this appalling rate, it will take us years to vaccinate everyone. AIF has built a robust network of partners in the last 20 years, including state governments, NGOs, and the public and private sector. This allows us a unique ability to achieve distribution into the most remote parts of India. We need, what do we need? We need financial resources. We need awareness building and education. And we need public policy response. India needs to be able to get back to being a global contributor. People to people connections are even more important than ever today. In all of my calls to AIF staff members and other friends and family, I am struck by how important it is to reach out, to touch people, to talk to them, to provide hope. The main takeaway from me is that every individual in India needs to hear from us. From each one of us, from our administration here, from community members, hope is what they are breathing. Hope is what they are looking for. Thank you. Thank you so much for your comments, Mr. Rangaswamy. Yes, thank you, Erb. And thank you to Vice President Harris for her personal support and the support of the administration here in the U.S. to help India in these dire times. Indiaspora is a global leadership group. We consist of diaspora leaders from various professions and various locations. And we have come together to be a force for good. We focus on three different areas. One is nonpartisan political and civic engagement. The second is to look at entrepreneurship and education, innovation to foster that. And the big area of focus for us is philanthropy. We are a group that convenes people. We connect groups and networks. We collaborate with them. We also act as a catalyst and inspiration for the overall 30 million strong diaspora worldwide. When COVID first hit a year ago, we are not a crisis organization like AIFS, but our members really asked us to respond. And so we started a campaign called Chalo Give, or Let's Give, where we in 48 hours were able to raise a lot of money and then go public and get more donations that enabled 8 million meals to be provided to migrant workers in India and also to food banks in the U.S. where most of us live here in the United States. So that was the previous involvement for us. When this COVID started, this time around in India, the second way, we got really involved. And also this has hit everyone in the diaspora on a personal basis. Someone has lost a relative, a friend, a sibling, a child to this dreaded pandemic in India. And also it's hit me personally. I lost my sister to COVID a few months ago. So I'm treating this both as a personal emergency as well as a call to the entire diaspora to dedicate our resources to help India. So this time around, our Chalo Give campaign, our members responded within 48 hours with a million dollars. And then we started collaborating with the overall community. We then partnered with celebrities in Hollywood who amplified this message. And last weekend did a big fundraiser where over 10,000, not just Indian Americans, but Americans came in and supported our work and the efforts in India. So this is indeed, we're very grateful to all Indian Americans, but also the greater American communities step up at this point. What we're doing with this money is we are focusing on three different areas. One is to help build COVID care centers through Wish Foundation. It's 10 to 30 bed kind of temporary hospitals for three months where they can get oxygen beds and care from medical professionals. The second is we work with an organization called Goonj and also John Sahas to really help the migrant workers in India who've gone back and forth to big cities several times in the past year. They need our help as well. And the final area we're focusing on is direct cash to people who've died from COVID. If they're the sole breadwinner, their family will get a direct cash grant through the digital bank. So those are some of the projects we're working on, but needless to say, we're grateful to the US government, the Indian diaspora, as well as Americans in general, who have really risen up to help India in these tough times. Thank you. Thank you so much for your heartfelt words and comments as well. May I invite Senator Hasmi to provide a few comments. Thank you so much, Irv, and thank you to everybody who's on the call today. And I especially want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for her efforts and the Biden administration's efforts in this tremendous crisis in India. And I'm just so thankful that we have the State Department and other allies working really hard to assist the folks in need. As I'm thinking about what is happening right now in India, I'm also very reflective of what took place in this country just last spring. And what strikes me in thinking about the correlation between our Indian communities, our Indian American communities, is the way in which members of the diaspora, especially here in Virginia that I saw firsthand, stepped up immediately to help their fellow Americans in a time of crisis in need. Right as our state shut down and we went into quarantine, my office was immediately contacted by individuals from the Muslim communities, the Islamic Center of North, Circle of North America, as well as by the Sikh community and by other members of the diaspora. And they were all asking one thing, what can we do to assist? How can we help our fellow Americans during this time of crisis? And within a matter of a few weeks, all of these groups had rallied together to provide food boxes, distribution of aid and support, PPE to our healthcare facilities, and they continued that work and they're still continuing the work to this year. And what that highlights for me is the ways in which our Indian dias, diasporic communities are so interwoven into the American context and how much there is a tremendous relationship, generosity, and willingness to support each other. That generosity that the Indian American community shared with their fellow Americans in the spring is now being reciprocated by Americans to India during its time of crisis. And as others have shared already, this is a deeply personal experience for many of us. We have family, we have friends, we have important connections and ties to our native communities. I too have family members who are now struggling through the COVID crisis, through the healthcare crisis, the financial issues that have emerged, and it is really incumbent upon all of us to ensure that we can provide the relief, provide the resources, and address this issue because it is a global humanity that is at stake. And it's not just our Indian communities that are so interwoven. We have so many American businesses, corporations that are very much a part of and are integrated within the Indian Indian space. We know that these companies, U.S. base, U.S. owned companies are employers of hundreds of thousands of Indians. And so this is a crisis that brings us all together. And this is a moment for us to cooperate in significant ways. And if there is to be light that we see coming out of this crisis, it is the light that we understand how unified we are, how we have one common path in front of us, and that we all have the responsibility to continue to work together to improve the circumstances. So thank you very much for this conversation. It is critical and I hope that we will have some good outcomes. Thank you. Dr. Kaur, thank you for your encouraging words despite the darkness that we're facing at this moment. And if I could ask Dr. Kaur to offer a few observations or words. Thank you so much for having me. One of the first COVID positive patients that I intubated in April of 2020 in New York City was a young man in his 40s. He was otherwise healthy and had children the age of mine. When I walked into his room, every inch of my body covered in PPE from the N95 mask that I had carefully placed over my tightly tied bun, not a strand of loose hair to jeopardize me, to my eye shield, to my water impervious gown and gloves. The most noticeable thing to me was not his rapid shallow breathing, his altered blood pressure, or his elevated heart rate, but it was the fear in his eyes. I had seen that look before. It wasn't the anxiety of anesthetic drugs or the fear of being placed on a ventilator. It was the terrifying unfamiliar and distressing feeling of having low blood oxygen levels, of being oxygen hungry, as we called it. I see that same panic in the eyes of COVID patients pouring out of medical clinics in India, hospitals bursting at their concrete seams. Organizations like Kalsa-Aid are getting oxygen concentrators to people who need them, machines which can increase oxygen delivery from a mere 21% in room air to 90 or 95%. But there are hundreds of thousands of people for whom the care is too late. COVID has revealed natural fault lines in our health systems and our economic systems, our educational systems, and it has made each person in this world more fragile. The impact of that fragility has been felt most gravely by the vulnerable. As a human rights researcher who works with some of the most vulnerable populations in the world, refugees, I can tell you that our greatest need is to address the care of people who are not recognized, who are not counted in the positivity rates, the death tolls, or cremation numbers. People who live in chronic crippling poverty that prohibits them from accessing care, people who fear vaccinations because they fear people in power, people who die in urban slums, their nameless ashes floating into the dark sky. Neglecting the health of the most vulnerable populations impacts and endangers our own health. Without making masks and vaccinations not only accessible, but a priority for these individuals, we jeopardize global public health. COVID has also revealed the best of the human spirit. There's been an outpouring of support from supplies contributed by global communities to the waving of vaccine patents. We're all facing this pandemic together, and it is an opportunity for us to embrace that one shared humanity. In the diaspora, seeing our siblings in India in oxygen hunger, what can we do? How can we contribute to this cause that is greater than ourselves? First, we can connect with vetted organizations on the ground like Casa-Aid, who are providing supplies to anyone in need, including the most vulnerable. We can hold all organizations to which we donate accountable for the equitable delivery to people in need. We can encourage our family members to wear masks the proper way, and we can work hard to dispel dangerous myths that surround vaccines and treatment. We can plan for what happens after this awful, grisly, acute phase. What happens when people who couldn't get treatment for heart or kidney problems show up months late? What happens when people have long-term COVID? What can we do to protect the younger populations as the virus continues to mutate? So these are real ways that we can contribute from thousands of miles away our oxygen filling our lungs. So I thank you for having me today, and I look forward to the discussion. Dr. Kaur, thank you for your comments, which are a great segue to the question and answer segment of our discussion today, and I'd like to kick off by asking all of our panelists to respond to these three questions, and then we'll turn it to our audience. I'd be interested in hearing from each of you if there are specific areas that need to be addressed by future public, private, and corporate relief efforts. And similarly, at this stage, how do you recommend that private citizens support the efforts in India? And in addition to your own organizations, what other charitable relief efforts do you see as effective and impactful? And perhaps we could just go in the order of the speakers. I think, you know, from how I'll start with the private citizens, you know, there are so many volunteers as Dr. Hashmi said, and so many others that are working across the country to not just provide support locally here in areas that we live in, but in the US, and in India. And I think reaching out to your friends and family members regularly and, you know, talking about building awareness about how we take care of our family members, as Dr. Kaur said. The basics are important, wearing a mask, social distancing, you know, and washing your hands. And these are basic, but they need to be done. And I think building that awareness is important. I think that from a corporate standpoint, we've seen an outpouring of support. But I think there is so much more to be done. I mean, you know, India needs just so many more oxygen concentrators and ventilators and all of the equipment. So we need more financial resources. So we need more corporates to support all of our organizations and more. And then from a public policy standpoint, I think, as I mentioned in my remarks, vaccinations is the key. So getting vaccines to India, if we have excess vaccines here, finding a way to get that to India, and finding good distribution, better distribution networks to help distribute that into particularly rural parts of India, is very important. And then working with pharmaceutical companies to see if we can find a way to, you know, get these costs reduced so that a country like India can utilize these vaccines more broadly. I think those are some of the things that I can think about. Yeah, just to follow up on that, I think as private citizens in the U.S., we're about four million strong in the diaspora. And if you look at the global diaspora, it's about 30 million. So only thing I can ask and urge everyone to do in the diaspora is to reach out to family, reach out to friends, and become a support network for the people of India at this time. The second thing we can do is I think we've got to look at the urgent situation, because what's happening now from what we gather is you can't go to a hospital, you can't find a bed. If you find a bed, you can't get oxygen. If you get oxygen, you can't find a doctor. You know, that immediate problem has to be solved before we look at the longer-term problem. But like Latha said and others, I echo the same thing, which is mask wearing in India from what I gather from talking to friends and relatives is not being followed. Social distancing, again, I know India is a very crowded, dense country. That's not being followed and washing hands. So all those basics, we need to get back and India needs to get back through the government and other agencies and just reeducates its own population that they need to do the basics. That's step one. Step two is we got to take care of all these people who are going to the hospitals or who are seeking help. I think that's the other thing we got to do. And like Latha said, step three, I hope it's sooner than later, is the longer-term issues, the vaccine distribution. I mean, US can say we're sending vaccines, but you know what? If we send Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, there's no cold storage in India available to do anything. So let's be smart in what we send India and maybe what we send are the J&J vaccines, for example, which can be stored in a refrigerator and you need one dose. You don't need two doses. Can you imagine in India going to a little village and being able to go there twice to give them two doses? That is not going to happen, folks. I think we got to look for the one dose, something that can be stored in a refrigerator that can be given to India and really help in that way. So let's get practical in our help and let's do that and move forward. I'll jump right in as well and just build upon the two points that were already made and say, yes, let's absolutely provide what's being requested and the groups that we know that are doing a good job. So there are commodities that are being requested by the Indian government. They know what they have capacity to be able to take on, what they have technical capacity and what their needs are. So I think that let's be conscious of what that is so we can direct our needs to what they are requesting on a daily, weekly basis. That's number one. Two, I would say we're working on supply chains. We're working on the technical assistance that's needed to be able to make the functioning of supply and distribution as effective as possible. And then three, I would say there's a number of programs that exist already that are addressing a number of the broader impacts of COVID across the country. And these are impacts that before we would call them secondary and tertiary, but now have all become primary. And so one of the things that our program in USAID is partnering with is the Revive Alliance, which focuses on the informal sector. And as many have talked about previously, the informal sector, the most marginalized groups, mostly women and youth are the ones that are hit the hardest. And so how do we make sure that we support them specifically to get through this pandemic? So Revive Alliance is doing things like being able to provide skill assistance, being able to provide small grants, loans, being able to build up and save this sector so that it's not lost through this pandemic. Those are all wonderful points that have already been shared by the other panelists. And I'll just share a little bit about what we have learned. I think we in the United States and particularly through state governments have learned a lot in responding to the crisis and how to manage so many different elements of what have happened. And one thing we learned is that smaller community-based medical response teams are very effective. Once we've moved past the stage of mass vaccination and are now trying to reach populations that are more challenging, more difficult to reach and to communicate with, these smaller community-based health systems are far more effective in ensuring that the vaccines are delivered to the individuals who need and many of these, of course, are vulnerable populations. So being able to share the ways in which we have seen the ramp up of medical reserve corp, for instance, in Virginia and the training that has been provided to thousands of volunteers to spread the word, to communicate, to create the infrastructure for vaccine delivery, all of that kind of structural systems that have been put into place are effective resources to also share and communicate with teams in India as they respond. One thing I would also like to see is an expansion of the telehealth services now that we have been able to grow and develop in response to COVID right here in this country. We know that other healthcare, very serious healthcare concerns continue on in the midst of this pandemic and we are seeing the poor outcomes of individuals who didn't get treated for their ongoing issues of heart disease or diabetes or cancers, who didn't get treated because our focus and our energy was all on COVID and they oftentimes were too afraid to come to see their physicians. The telehealth resources now have the opportunity to make sure that we have ongoing coverage of those particular health crises at the same time as we're addressing COVID. And I think we have a great opportunity for partnership here. We have so many medical professionals in the United States who are of South Asian descent, Indian descent, and being able to provide and partner with teams in India in this way would effectively release Indian physicians to concentrate very heavily on the immediate COVID situation. And so thinking creatively, thinking about what we've learned from our own experiences with COVID and being able to translate that and share those resources I think is an important next step for us. Building off of that, what Senator Hashmi said, I think the relief efforts almost certainly need to include an aspect of trust building with communities. The populations with which I work, for example, refugees may have access, full access to vaccinations and vaccination schedules, but the rates of vaccination in those populations might be as low as 20 or 30 percent because there's just not trust that's been built up over time with hospitals, administrators, leadership structures, or governments. And I think that low confidence in the system is rooted in real lived experience. There's some studies that show that more than 80 percent of people in low income countries report being the victim of healthcare related corruption. So when we're looking at vaccination as a critical component of ending these waves, building trust with those communities with marginalized populations is a key mechanism to achieve that. And I think equity is really the issue of our time, right? That's what we talk about in many different spaces and it is really evident here as well. Thanks to all of our panelists for their thoughtful comments. Our audience has a number of thoughtful questions that I'd like to pose to our panelists. First, are there any of the panelist organizations working to establish field hospitals in India to help address overflowing government hospitals? And let me ask a second question at the same time. What is being done to ensure funds, medicines, and equipment are being distributed transparently and equitably across India? Maybe I can take the first one, which is about field hospitals. So like I said, one of the things that the Indiasparachalo Give program is funding are these 10 to 30 bed COVID care centers, which are not in the main parts of the city or the state, but in smaller parts of each vicinity, if you will, right? So that's one way that I think you can you can address the hospital issue at this point. Thank you, Mr. Rogoswamy. Any others on either of those questions? I'm happy to take the one on distribution because I know it's a question that's come up by a number of people. And it was related in part to my answer to one of the earlier questions, which is, how do we actually make sure that supply chains and supply chain platforms are strong enough? And this is something that we're currently working with the Indian government in, in recognizing as they work with the National Disaster Relief organization as well in how do you build a platform that can take all of these donations in and distribute them properly? So we're looking at distribution plans directly with the government of India. We're speaking to them daily. We're looking at how all of those distribution of commodities get put out in specific hospitals. Even this morning, I was told of a number of different commodities that have reached specific hospitals and medical colleges across Delhi and other locations. So as we start receiving more and more information working more closely, our recent five shipments have all been distributed with plans specifically, and they're now with each shipment, each donation base that comes through, that information is becoming more available. And as they sort through what those next plans are, I think that the need is for greater partnership and support in that process. So that's what we're looking to do. And I think it's important for all of us to hold every one of our organizations and governments accountable on that transparency. Yeah, I would agree with that, Irvin. I think at least as AIF is working on the ground and our team is working tirelessly, the important thing to remember is that we're raising money and resources to address specific needs. So if a hospital needs 100 beds, then we're getting the resource to fulfill that specific order. So that allows us the ability to monitor and be transparent on that point back to the investor. Because like all of us, we're all working hard here to earn our money, and we want to make sure that it gets to the right place. And that's a very important part of what we're doing on the team. Thanks for those very comprehensive answers, very thought provoking answers. Another question from the audience. Have the panelists or USG speakers, US government speakers, heard if the government of India is considering emergency waivers on the Foreign Contributions Regulations Act so that the diaspora and others can give directly to NGOs providing relief? Yeah, I would say that should be entertained by the Indian government because the way that the FCRA rules were amended in September of last year, it prevented what is called sub granting of money. What that means is if AIF gets money, they cannot give that as a sub grant to an organization to finish the last mile of a job. For example, in a little village or in a little place where those organizations are very small, they don't have the overhead or the staff to file for FCRA clearances and such. So in this time of need, I would definitely say that that is a good thing for the Indian government to take a look at pretty quickly. I know in the just recent past, they waived, for example, the import duty on oxygen concentrators and such. So maybe they can make a limited time waiver where the last mile organizations are the ones at highest risk if they cannot get a sub grant. So I would say that's a very practical thing for the Indian government to look at. Another question from the audience. We've touched on this earlier, but I think it's so important. I'd like to reiterate it here. Has anyone on the panel, can anyone on the panel address vaccine hesitancy in India? My parents are in Hyderabad and my own father was reluctant. I think what we might be seeing in India is similar to what we're seeing right here in the United States. You know, I was at a clinic just yesterday and I was disheartened to see that we had volunteers and healthcare professionals ready to provide doses, but we didn't have people coming. So our supply now ironically in the United States is outstripping our demand and it's resulting from the vaccine hesitancy individuals who are still either thinking that the vaccine has not been proven to be safe or that they don't need it, that the crisis has now been averted all of these issues. And I think one way in which we're helping to overcome that here in Virginia in particular and I think in the United States is to make sure that the information and communication about the vaccine is coming through individuals that community members trust. And so we've reached out to our faith-based organizations through Black churches, through mosques and temples to make sure that the word is spread, that individuals understand the need for the vaccine and its efficacy and its safety. And I think being able to carry that same kind of a structure in India and other countries is absolutely critical. So the community-based models of delivery of the vaccine, making sure that the communication is going through volunteers who are trust in members of the community, whether they're faith leaders or leaders in the social civic areas is absolutely essential. And we have to be able to make sure that people understand and that they trust the message and that we push back against the disinformation that has sadly spread around not just COVID and the vaccine, but around so many other issues. Completely agree, Dr. Senator Hashmi. Aside from the large corporations and high net worth individuals, we have to remember that there are so many volunteers in the U.S. and in India who are stepping up and doing all they can and building awareness and education for these communities, whether it's in tribal areas of India or whether it's in the big cities, it's so important. And it has to come, as Senator Hashmi said, from reliable sources, you know, from community members who are trusted partners to talk about why this is important. I mean, you know, sitting on the Stanford Hospital Board, I can tell you that just here, even in the Bay Area, you know, just getting a vaccine is so important, even for people who are subject to the virus. So I think that building awareness is very important. And I just want to say one other thing, which is that, you know, we have to remember as a community here, affected by this crisis, that it's the long term that's going to be important as well, you know, that women, children, adolescent girls, kids who are not getting an education, these are all going to, these are all groups that are going to suffer enormous socioeconomic crisis over the long term. And we have to be prepared to help them over the long stretch. So helping them now is important, but we have to make sure that we are creating bandwidth for the future as well. Add to that, I think, you know, there's, there needs to be a unified message and a message that's coming from a reliable source, a consistent message that's coming out to people. If there's an understanding that COVID is going away, and we don't need to worry about it, and there's fluctuating understanding of what's, what the situation is, you're just not going to have, you're not going to have the power to convince individuals to take this vaccine. And so I think a unified message, not just from trusted organizations and partners and community members, but from the leadership is really critical. I think there needs to be an understanding that this is not a mechanism to trap people. I'll give you an example. In our clinic here, people will ask me, if I come for the vaccine, I'm fearful that I'm going to get deported, that that's going to get logged in my case and I'll get deported. And so I think there needs to be protection around those vulnerable populations as well. I think those of us in the diaspora have really intimate knowledge of this population, right? We know what the anxieties are. We know what people think works when we know it doesn't, when that's not what's in the science. We know what the vulnerabilities are. And so in some ways, I think it's also on us to try to promote that understanding of the need of vaccinations. I know that there are a lot of moving targets in terms of COVID recommendations that are evolving as the science comes out, but vaccines are one of the really solid scientific points that we can rally around where there isn't a lot of confusion in terms of the science, that this is really clear what we need to be doing. And so I think on those multiple different levels, we can get some movement on vaccinations. Dr. Carruth, thank you. And lots of thank you for your interventions there. There's a question to me. Many Indians who with work visas to the United States are unable to return to their homes and families in the United States due to current travel, the current travel ban restrictions, really. Mr. Masinga, what should the stranded IT specialists, doctors, and engineers do? Thank you for the question. I'll try and be brief. It's important to recognize that this is not a ban. This is a very, very temporary measure. The 212F, that's what we called it, presidential decision. And it's being regularly reviewed with an eye towards the circumstances on the ground. And it'll be a science-based review that is underway on a regular basis. So as circumstances hopefully continue, well, hopefully trend more positively in the days and weeks to come, we look forward to reviewing this administrative measure at the earliest opportunity. There's a question directly for Lata. Is there any way AIF can work directly with nonprofits and NGOs that have offices in the Bay Area? They are focused on medical treatment. Those that are focused on medical treatment have relationships with big hospitals like Tata Memorial, etc. And similarly, is there a network of U.S.-based nonprofits that could help support a coordinated response in India to support coordination among nonprofits and with the government of India? If so, how do organizations connect with that network? I open up to Lata and the rest of the group. Well, of course, the answer is yes. We are always seeking partnerships. We work with MRs in diaspora as well. That collects various organizations together. But we work with partners both here in the U.S. and in India. And if you reach out to our offices on our website, our CEO, Nishan Pandey, and just seek the information that you need, AIF is extremely eager to work with other organizations to do the best we can. So the answer is yes. Just to add to that, India has set up a group called the India Philanthropy Alliance. And they have their own website, indiaphilanthropyalliance.org. It's a group of NGOs that have a focus on India, organizations like AIF and many others who are doing good work. And so that could be another resource for people. Indiaspora itself on our website has a resource page of all the organizations doing good work in India. So these are all resources available today. I just want to touch upon if I might one more issue that hasn't come up on the call so far. That is the big cities in India have taken most of the media and mind share and rightfully so. But there's a ton of work in the rural areas of India that really need our attention as well. For example, the migrants. The migrants left all the big cities a year ago, if you recall, to move back to their hometowns. We saw these visceral reactions to photos of them walking hundreds of miles to get home. They then came back when they thought COVID was finished. And now they're on their way back again one more time. Just think of the plight to these people. So we need to help those. And that's one of the causes of chalo give. And the second one is a gut-trenching heart-rendering one, which is imagine if you were a social worker, you had to go to the crematoriums all across India to find out people who have died who are sold breadwinners of their family and then make a digital grant, a cash grant to them. I mean, that's another program we've taken on. And I would say that these are things that are underserved and untold. But I would urge people to look at those kinds of programs and causes as well. Yes, I would definitely second that. And I would say that there are many marginalized sections like persons with disabilities, elderly women, daily wage workers. These are all groups that really are suffering this crisis. And whether it's AIF or anyone else, but find organizations that are focused on these communities. And I would just jump in also just to note, I'm so happy to hear about all of these collaborative projects that are already going on. And USAID is supporting a civil society organization collaborative called CAC, which specifically supports 10 million vulnerable people across pan India with a network of 350 grassroots NGOs. And so this is focused on specifically on COVID on delivering medical supplies, health and economic support. And this goes to the earlier speaker's points of view that these are for the most marginalized. And so how do we address this? And I also want to call out that India has focused on public health emergencies in the past, reaching migrants, reaching the most vulnerable groups through programs like polio. So they've addressed vaccine hesitancy, they've addressed a number of these issues. So we need to go back to those tactics to those programs utilize that networks have already been established in the platforms that can be utilized again. So that we're not always recreating the wheel, but we're building upon something that's already been established there that have those influences and that have those trust and communities that are connected to the most vulnerable in those in need. We're getting close to the end of our hour, but given the tremendous interest in the issue, I think we can go a little bit over. Here's a somewhat of a sensitive question, but one that echoes something that we've heard consistently from our friends around the world. Can panelists please discuss how we can address health care corruption in India? We are hearing terrible stories about our families experiencing extortion by ambulance drivers and at hospitals. Yeah, let me start with this. Again, I think being the diaspora, we're sitting 10, 20,000 miles away from India. So it's hard to look at it from our perspective here as American citizens. So that's why when we set up Chalo Give as our giving platform, we have sought out organizations in India that we know have been vetted and are really delivering that support to people. That's the only thing we've been able to do at this time is to just make sure that the money gets to the right NGOs that gets delivered to the right people without any corruption. That's the extent of what I think we can do at this point in time being so far away from India is to just make sure money and resources are going the right way. Thank you for that intervention. What about Nepal? India's neighboring country is going through a crisis but has not received global attention. And I'll ask another question at the same time. What other medical equipment is most needed in India now besides oxygen concentrators? And I'll take the Nepal question and perhaps my colleague from USAID can add to it. Nepal has not been forgotten. We are acutely aware of the growth of the pandemic there and in other countries in South and Central Asia. And we are working energetically to assess the needs and find ways to respond in as energetic and effective way as we've done in India. So perhaps it has not gone as much public attention given the disparity in size. But Nepal has not been forgotten. And I'll jump in there, Dasmasinga, just to emphasize that we just had a call with our Nepal mission this morning. First thing in the morning to make sure that we are not scrambling to respond to their needs to recognize what a crisis that they're going through as well. And for everyone to also highlight the fact that borders are porous. And so anything that's going to happen in India we know is going to affect every one of the countries that's neighboring it and the region as a whole. So we from USAID and the COVID task force is specifically looking at how to address the region as a whole and how to look at the pandemic globally. So we're working together closely with the State Department and with Dasmasinga to think about how do we bring our efforts together so we can get ahead of this in as many countries as possible. So we don't have the kind of burden that we do in India currently. Would anyone like to address the question of what other medical equipment is most needed now in India besides oxygen concentrators? The only thing that I would say to sort of address that question is that when we provide equipment I think we have to be really confident and comfortable that there are providers to who are skilled at using that equipment. So for example if we sent a bunch of ventilators my contacts in India are saying that there are ventilators and they're just unusable because people they don't have providers to intubate or to watch patients on those ventilators. So in terms of support I think oxygen concentrators are a great first pass. I think there's also support that we should be providing to the health care providers themselves. There's a lot of data on COVID fatigue, exhaustion, PTSD just from caring for critically ill patients around the clock. I mean even the burden or the trauma, the weight of not being able to care for somebody who's coming to your hospital or to your clinic, to your door who's really begging for help, begging for oxygen and to say I can't help you. That's really not in the comfort zone I think of health care providers. And so I don't have a good answer to what exactly we can do to support health care providers but I think that is a need to address acutely but also in the long term as we think about how this will play out in the next months to years. And can I just jump in on the commodities, Das Masinga, is that if you reach out to us you see our address in the chat as well. The government is in touch with us every day and exactly the Dr. Khor's point is that they are telling us what they have the capacity to absorb right now and that's the oxygen ecosystem. So it goes beyond oxygen concentrators, we're looking at cylinders, we're looking at all the different parts that are related to getting liquid oxygen, whatnot. So reach out to us and I say don't try to do this alone. There are a number of organizations that are already working that know how to get equipment there to India to get it in the right hands. So reach out to us, reach out to one of the trusted organizations so that we can collaborate on making sure the right supplies reach. The worst thing I would want to see is that you're sending supplies that are actually not adequate or appropriate for the crisis and all done with really good intention. But let's make sure the execution is appropriate. And so there is a great need there and we're looking at rapid diagnostic tests, we're looking at PPE, a number of places that with the commodities that may not necessarily be needed in India could be used across the region. So we're thinking across the entire region in terms of what's required. So you'll see the address in the chat, reach out and we can connect the dots with you. Well I believe that we're coming to the end of our program today but clearly this conversation is one that needs to continue. So stay tuned for next iterations on how we continue the conversation. I'd like to personally thank each of our panelists for providing their unique and valuable perspectives today and for participating in this important discussion. We intend this event to be the first of a robust series of public engagements between the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asia, USCID, and the Indian American community in the year to come. As has been said, the outpouring of support and assistance from the diaspora community has been incredible. If you're looking for additional ways to support India and South Asia in combating COVID-19, the Department of State is courting closely with other US government agencies such as USAID and non-government partners to facilitate this assistance and has established a team to specifically help facilitate large diaspora donations. Please contact our Department of State South Asia COVID Assistance Coordination Group at sacac at state.gov. It'll be in the chat. The channel your generous offer into effective assistance. I'd like to conclude by reiterating that as President Biden has said, we are all in this together. The only way we will overcome the pandemic is through collaboration, as my colleagues have said, and cooperation. Everyone participating in this event today is an important partner in that effort, and I thank all of you for doing your part to help India at this time of need and to help all of us collectively face this truly global challenge. Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing you again very soon.