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On TRIPS waiver, Jaishankar says Covid is a calamity that requires 'last resort'
The rising power of China is not a threat to Europe, but a challenge, Portuguese foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva said. To this, Jaishankar said, "We come from very different places".
As Portuguese foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva on Wednesday said that Europe is philosophically against waiving intellectual property rights and this should be the last resort, foreign minister S Jaishankar said the pandemic has presented a situation that needs this "last resort". Both the ministers took part in an online session organised by the Observer Research Foundation on the "Future of India-EU relations".
The Portuguese minister said that the European Union is deliberating the waiver proposal brought by India and South Africa and the EU is also waiting for a proposal from the United States. "Waiving IPR is a last resort kind of solution. We are discussing it. There are different views and we are still waiting for a proposal from the US, which said it would back a temporary IPR waiver. But no concrete proposal has been presented before the EU in the right framework," the minister said.
Patent waiver proposal on Covid vaccines gets widespread support at G7: MEA
Replying to the minister Jaishankar said that Europe is key in this proposal as many supply channels go through Europe. "When India and South Africa brought up the proposal, we were speaking for the larger global interest. We believe others too share that thinking," Jaishankar said.
On China
The two foreign ministers spoke elaborately on China where Augusto Santos Silva mentioned that China is a challenge and not a threat but on human rights issues, the EU considers India, not China, as its partner. Europe can't be silent on China squeezing domestic space in Hong Kong, its aggression in the South China Sea, its relations with Taiwan, or what China is doing in Xinjiang. But it is also a partner as without China the global targets of the Paris Agreement will not be fulfilled, Portugal foreign minister said.
A new chapter for the TRIPS waiver proposal
"We come from very different places and India shares its border with China. I have my military which is right up there in the border. I think my situation is very different from Europe," Jaishankar said.
On India-EU ties
Jaishankar also thanked the Portugal foreign minister for the remarkable six months of India-EU ties.
"We had a very important virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all the EU leaders. We made some important decisions. One is the resumption of negotiations on the Trade and Investment agreement," Jaishankar said adding that it was not a capricious or purely diplomatic decision. "A lot of work went into it. We reached a stage, where we felt confident to do so," Jaishankar said.
What is TRIPS waiver?
TRIPS is a global agreement covering all member nations under the World Trade Organization. It is an agreement on patent, intellectual property rights etc. India and South Africa sought a waiver so that procuring vaccines and drugs made by developed countries become easy for developing countries. The European Union has so far opposed the proposal.
