Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to US Vice President Kamala Harris and discussed “ongoing efforts to further strengthen India-US vaccine cooperation.”
During the call, Kamala Harris informed the Prime Minister about US’ plans to make Covid-19 vaccines available to other countries, including India, under its “strategy for global vaccine sharing”.
The leaders discussed ongoing efforts to strengthen the health supply chain between the US and India, including in the area of vaccine manufacturing. They highlighted the potential of the India-US partnership as well as the Quad vaccine initiative in addressing the long-term health impact of the pandemic.
“Spoke to US Vice President Kamala Harris a short while ago. I deeply appreciate the assurance of vaccine supplies to India as part of the US Strategy for Global Vaccine Sharing,” PM Modi said on Twitter.
The Prime Minister also thanked Harris for the “support and solidarity from the US government, businesses and Indian diaspora”.
“We also discussed ongoing efforts to further strengthen India-US vaccine cooperation, and the potential of our partnership to contribute to post-Covid global health and economic recovery,” he said.
After PM Modi, Kamala Harris spoke to President Andres Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala, and Prime Minister Keith Rowley, Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
“Harris notified each of the leaders that US will begin sharing the first 25 million doses of Covid vaccines to their respective countries and others, as part of US Administration’s framework for sharing at least 80 million vaccines globally by the end of June,” senior advisor and chief spokesperson Symone Sanders said.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden laid out how the United States would share some 25 million of a planned 80 million Covid-19 vaccine doses with the rest of the world.
The United States will donate nearly 19 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility, he said in a statement.
Through COVAX, some 6 million doses would go to Latin America and the Caribbean, some 7 million for South and Southeast Asia and roughly 5 million for Africa.
The remaining doses, amounting to just over 6 million, would go directly from the United States to countries including Canada, Mexico, India and Korea, he said.
Surjitt Sahani
