Germany today congratulated India for successfully eradicating polio and described it as a "landmark achievement".
"I congratulate India on successfully eradicating polio. This is a landmark achievement for the subcontinent. We are happy to have contributed to India's Polio Eradication Programme," German Ambassador Michael Steiner said in a statement.
He said Germany remains committed to the global initiative to eliminate polio from the few remaining pockets around the world.
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India completed three years without reporting any fresh case of polio. Having crossed this significant landmark, the country is set to being officially declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation.
The German government has contributed 243 Million euros to date to the Indian Polio Eradication Programme as a part of its commitment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Polio crippled an estimated 200,000 children in India each year before the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1996. As recently as 2009, half of the cases worldwide were reported in India. It was considered one of the most difficult countries in eradicating polio.
