PARIS: France plans to offer India “significant” extra oxygen capacity in the coming days to help the country cope with a record surge in Covid-19 infections, the French presidency said on Sunday.

The assistance is to include badly needed oxygen ventilators, a source told AFP without providing further details.

The EU as a whole is also preparing rapid assistance for India, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said earlier. “Alarmed by the epidemiological situation in India. We are ready to support,” von der Leyen said on Twitter.

“The EU is pooling resources to respond rapidly to India’s request for assistance via the EU civil protection mechanism.”

The mechanism allows European Union countries to coordinate their aid in cases of emergency. India recorded 2,767 deaths from Covid-19 on Sunday — the highest since the start of the pandemic.