World counts on India’s cost-efficient COVID-19 vaccines says Jaishankar

NEW DELHI

The world is counting on India for easy and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all, said External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Monday.

“PM Modi has committed to the UN that we will help make vaccines accessible and affordable to all. And believe me, from the regular conversations I have had with so many counterparts, the world is counting on us to do so,” Jaishankar said at the third edition of Deccan Dialogue, an initiative of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

He suggested that nations should focus on with a stronger sense of collaboration to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.

“In the last few years, India has emerged as the first responder in our immediate vicinity to humanitarian help, and disaster relief situations. We have been there, whether it was the Nepal earthquake, the Yemen civil war, the Mozambique cyclone and the Sri Lanka mudslides.”

Talking on the subject of terrorism, he said that India endeavours to strengthen security along the border.

“The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has become a more important forum, and black money is today firmly on the agenda of the G20,” he added.

The theme for the third edition of Deccan Dialogue was ‘Crisis and Cooperation: Imperative in the times of Pandemic’ with the idea to garner support from stakeholders beyond borders, to be proactive towards crisis.

(Edited by Gabriel Momin)