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Ready to protect humanity with 2 ‘Made in India’ Covid vaccines: PM Modi
Addressing the virtual inaugural session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention, Modi said India was continuing to play its role as the “world’s pharmacy” by getting essential medicines to those most in need around the world.
India is ready with two “Made in India” coronavirus vaccines to protect humanity from Covid-19 even as the world is watching the roll-out of the world’s largest vaccination programme in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.
Addressing the virtual inaugural session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention, Modi said India was continuing to play its role as the “world’s pharmacy” by getting essential medicines to those most in need around the world.
“We are ready to protect humanity with two ‘Made in India’ corona vaccines,” he said. “The world is not only waiting for India’s vaccine, but everyone is watching how India runs the world’s largest vaccination programme.”
Indian authorities recently cleared the Serum Institute’s Covishield, or the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, for restricted use in an emergency situation subject to regulatory conditions, while Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine was approved for restricted use in emergency situations in “clinical trial mode”.
Amid the pandemic, India supplied medicines and medical equipment to some 150 countries, including materials that were provided as grants to several neighbours and developing nations. Several countries have also expressed an interest in acquiring vaccines from India.
Modi said the lessons learned by India during the pandemic had become the inspiration for the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, and this movement for self-reliance is meant to help others as “Made in India” products and solutions will benefit the world.
The world still remembers the role played by India to address the Y2K issue and now the role of the country’s pharmaceutical industry has shown that the whole world benefits when India enters any particular arena, he said.
“If there is so much trust in India, the diaspora too has made a big contribution,” he said, adding that Indian-origin people had taken Indian culture and “lived it and inspired others”, including through their food and family and business values.
“India has never imposed anything on the world, nor has it tried to do so or even though of doing so,” Modi said.
As India moves forward with its self-reliance initiative, the diaspora will have to play an important role in making Brand India stronger. “If you use more Made in India products, the trust of others in them will increase,” he said.
Atmanirbhar Bharat will also help take affordable and quality solutions to the world’s poorest, and the investments, remittances, expertise and networks of the diaspora can help drive this initiative, he added. At the same time, the government’s structural reforms and subsidy scheme for manufacturing have increased investment opportunities for the diaspora, he pointed out.
Amid the pandemic, India repatriated lakhs of its nationals through the Vande Bharat Mission and took steps at the diplomatic level to protect the employment of Indians abroad, he said, adding that a database was also created of the skills of workers who returned from West Asia and other regions so that they can be connected to Indian and foreign employers.
Modi said the past year was “one of many challenges for everyone”, but the way the Indian diaspora had rendered services and fulfilled its responsibilities was a matter of pride for India. “For social and political leadership across the world, the trust in Indian-origin people is becoming greater,” he said.
He said many heads of states he had talked to had made specific mention of the services rendered by Indian doctors, paramedics and citizens services, while the help extended by gurdwaras, temples and organisations in difficult circumstances was also a matter of pride. The contributions of the diaspora to the PM Cares fund had helped strengthen health infrastructure in India, he added.
