NEW DELHI: Indian hospitals have often treated patients from neighbouring countries, including Pakistan. The fact that news outfits close to the Indian government have this week highlighted the heart transplant a 19-year-old girl from Karachi underwent in a Chennai hospital could be signalling more than meets the eye.

According to local reports, Ayesha Rashan underwent a full heart transplant after her heart pump developed a leak in a valve. The reports said that the procedure — over Rs3.5 million — was borne by the hospital and Chennai-based Aishwaryam Trust.

“She (Rashan) is like (our) daughter. Every life matters,” the doctors were quoted as saying.

In the middle of a divisive electoral campaign intensified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s targeting of Muslims, this apparent sign of bonhomie between the people of the two countries becomes that much more notable.

Karachi girl undergoes procedure in Chennai

Add to this the comment by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif the other day that he hoped for betterment in bilateral ties with India after the neighbour comes out of its election phase commencing.

Indian analysts believe that if Mr Modi returns to power he could go soft on divisive issues, and possibly pick up the threads connected with his close proximity to the Sharif family.

“Our relations with India could be improved after elections there,” the defence minister said while speaking to reporters outside the Parliament House in Islamabad. He added that Pakistan and India ties had its “own background”.

Meanwhile, reports spoke of how Dr K.R. Balakrishnan, Director of the Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant and Dr Suresh Rao, Co-Director of the Institute learned about the emergency and the financial assistance Ms Rashan needed.

They said the teen received the heart immediately as there were no competing claims. Otherwise, a foreigner can’t get an organ. She received a heart from a 69-year-old, brain-dead patient from Delhi, reports said.

Expressing her gratitude to the Indian government, Ms Rashan and her mother Sanobar highlighted a lack of required facilities in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2024