‘India has always seen humanity as one family’: Modi at Global Covid Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is leveraging its manufacturing strength to produce vaccines for the Indo-Pacific region with the help of Quad partners.

Addressing the virtual Covid-19 summit in the United States, ahead of his meeting with President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic has been an unprecedented disruption and it is not yet over.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a visit to the United States to attend the 76th session of the UN General Assembly and the meeting of the heads of the Quad member states.  (File photo)

“India’s pharmaceutical industry has produced cost-effective diagnostic kits, drugs, medical devices, and PPE kits. These are providing affordable options to many developing countries,” the Prime Minister said.

Modi hailed US President Joe Biden’s announcement to half a million doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 shots to distribution among low and lower-middle-income countries.

“Much of the world is still to be vaccinated. That is why this initiative by President Biden is timely and welcome,” Modi said during his speech.

India has always seen humanity as one family, the Prime Minister highlighted, while thanking the countries for standing with New Delhi during the deadly second wave of the pandemic.

“Earlier this year, we shared our vaccine production with 95 other countries and with UN peacekeepers. Like a family, the world also stood with India when we were going through a second wave. For the solidarity and support extended to India, I thank you all,” Modi said.

He informed the global forum that two indigenously developed vaccines received Emergency Use Authorisation in India, including the world’s first DNA-based vaccine, ZyCoV-D. “Several Indian companies are also involved in the licensed production of various vaccines,” Modi added.

Talking about India's Covid-19 vaccination programme — which he said is the world’s largest inoculation campaign — Modi said, “Recently, we vaccinated about 25 million people on a single day. Our grassroots-level healthcare system has delivered over 800 million vaccine doses so far. Over 200 million Indians are now fully vaccinated."

India has inoculated the highest number of beneficiaries with their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine in the world.

Modi said this feat was possible through India's use of “innovative digital platform CoWin.”

“As newer Indian vaccines get developed, we are also ramping up production capacity of existing vaccines. As our production increases, we will be able to resume vaccine supplies to others too. For this, the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that India is leveraging its manufacturing strength to produce vaccines for the Indo-Pacific region with the help of Quad partners. “India and South Africa have proposed a TRIPS waiver at the WTO vaccine, diagnostics and medicines. This will enable rapid scaling of the fight against the pandemic,” Modi said.

He also expressed his concern on pandemic’s economic effects and called for mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccine certificates and urged the countries to enable easier international travel.

Modi left for the United States on Wednesday morning. He will hold several bilateral meetings, including with Biden, besides attending the Quad leaders summit and addressing United Nations General Assembly session during the visit which will conclude on September 25.