April 28, 2021: Expressing his solidarity with India as the country battles the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tibetian spiritual leader The Dalai Lama has made a contribution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's PM CARES Fund through the Dalai Lama Trust.

According to the Central Tibetan Administration, the Dharamshala-based parliament-in-exile, the spiritual leader expressed his concern over the surging COVID-19 infections in India.

The Dalai Lama said that he has been "following the continuing challenge that the COVID-19 pandemic has been posing across the world, including in India, with concern".

"May I take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation for all the efforts that are being made to tackle this devastating pandemic, especially by those courageously working on the frontline. I pray that the pandemic threat will end soon," he added.

India is reeling under the impact of the second wave of coronavirus. The country has been reporting over three lakh daily cases in the last few days.

India reported over 3.60 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases and close to 3,300 related deaths in the last 24 hours, its biggest single-day hike since the onset of the pandemic.

The total count of positive cases now stands at 1,79,97,267 whereas the death toll has soared up to 2,01,187 deaths. A total of 1,48,17,371 people have recovered so far from the disease.

Meanwhile, global support in the form of oxygen supplies, ventilators, raw material for vaccines, PPT kits and oxygen concentrators have started pouring in to curb the second COVID-19 wave in India. (ANI)