A Covid-19 coronavirus patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, under a tent installed along a roadside in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. AFP/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam always stands side by side with India in the fight against COVID-19, the Vietnamese leaders affirmed on Wednesday.

In their messages of sympathy sent to their Indian counterparts Ram Nath Kovind and Narendra Modi, State President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính said they share difficulties faced by the Indian people in the fierce battle against COVID-19 in the context that the pandemic is developing complicatedly around the world.

They expressed his belief that India will uphold its great internal strength to soon bring the country out of this difficulty, for the peaceful, happy and prosperous life of the residents.

On the same day, Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn cabled his sympathy to his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

India has become the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, recording 360,000 new infections -- a world record -- and more than 3,000 deaths on Wednesday, AFP reported. VNS