India will begin shipping Covid-19 vaccines to Brazil and Morocco on Friday, followed by Saudi Arabia and South Africa, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tries to conquer his credentials as a major world leader.
“There is a huge international demand for our vaccines,” Foreign Minister Harsh Shringla said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. ‘We expect more world players to work with their Indian counterparts in the pharmacy health care sectors. This is likely to go beyond moving parts of the supply chains to India. We expect collaboration, manufacturing and research and development in this area. ”
Foreign Minister Harsh Shringla discusses India’s proliferation and ties with the new US government in an interview with Bloomberg’s Rishaad Salamat.
Massive vaccines begin in India despite safety concerns
The vaccinations carried out so far have been manufactured by the Serum Institute of India Ltd. – the largest volume of vaccine manufacturer in the world – which has entered into a partnership AstraZeneca Plc to make at least one billion doses of their shot. Brazil has the world’s third largest coronavirus epidemic, behind India and the US and has a let begin his vaccination campaign, lagging behind Latin American counterparts, including Mexico and Argentina.
Supply Chains
India expects to house global supply chains for medicines and will work with President Joe Biden’s administration to build trade and security ties, Shringla said.
Last year, Modi promised that India would use India’s delivery and manufacturing capabilities “to help all of humanity fight the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is in line with this vision that we have responded positively to requests for delivery of Indian manufactured vaccines from countries all over the world, ”said Shringla.
United Kingdom, Belgium among countries seeking cheaper vaccines through India
India began launching its domestic coronavirus vaccine on January 16 with Serum’s Covishield and the vaccine developed indigenously from Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and on Wednesday began sending vaccines to six neighboring countries – Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Maldives and Seychelles. The Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it was waiting for regulatory approvals from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius to send out the shots.
India says it can increase its production of Covid-19 vaccines to 500 million a month for export, as it offers interest from the UK, Belgium and countries across the Middle East and Africa seeking access to cheaper vaccinations.
Trade Talks
Commercial supplies Indian vaccines will go to several other countries in Africa, Latin America, the Pacific Islands and to the United Nations, Shringla said. Although the initiative is part of India’s economic ‘independence’ campaign, the country expects to build a ‘supply chain for medicines, sensitive technologies and minerals’ with the US.
India expects talks on trade with the US to resume, and is “eager to look at a limited trade agreement” followed by a comprehensive agreement, the foreign minister added. The US is India’s largest trading partner with bilateral trade amounting to $ 150 billion in 2019.
New Delhi also hopes to work with Biden to promote maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and to counter terrorism, Shringla said.
India is in talks with China to bring about a possible decoupling. The process is currently underway, “he said. “At the level of our senior leadership, we are clear that we will do everything in our power to maintain that dialogue and do everything in our power to find a solution that is in the best interests of both countries.”
India’s border conflict with China with thousands of troops stationed on its Himalayan borders has been at a stalemate with no resolution since May last year, despite several rounds of military and diplomatic level.
– With help by Adrian Wong
(Updates throughout with details)