A group of Israeli scientists arrived in New Delhi on Monday via a special plane to conduct a series of final stage tests for a rapid COVID-19 test kit, jointly being developed with scientists from the Indian Defence labs.
Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka, who accompanied the scientists said, the rapid test for COVID-19 would give the results within seconds.
"It will be a great game changer the way tests are being done for COVID-19", said Malka.
He said the special plane also carried several new machines used in the treatment of COVID-19, and Israel would share the technology with India.
"New tech is developed rigorously, tested rigorously, and the bar is high", said Professor K. Vijaya Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to India's federal government.
The Israeli Embassy in New Delhi tweeted last week that both countries would engage in unprecedented anti-COVID-19 cooperation in the coming weeks to "merge Israeli technology with Indian development and production capabilities to allow a swift resumption of normal life alongside the virus".
"In the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Israel, India gave Israel special authorisation to acquire medicine, masks, and protective gear. Now, Israel is proud to reciprocate this significant gesture & grant authorisation for purchasing of respirators to its great friend in the East", said the mission in New Delhi in another tweet.
Israel's Directorate of Defence Research Development has tested a dozen diagnostic technologies since the outbreak of the pandemic. Some of them have matured and passed initial trials in Israel. These will now be used on a wide range of patients to prove their effectiveness, said the Israeli Ministry of Defence in a statement.
Scientists from both countries will jointly test four technologies in India: a voice test, breathalyzer test based on terra-hertz waves, an isothermal test, and a polyamino acids test.
India's total COVID-19 caseload is 1,435,453. The number of active cases stands at 485,114, while some 32,771 people have succumbed to the viral infection so far.