It would not be right to talk about the supply of Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh and Nepal at a time when India is in the middle of ramping up its production to cater to domestic demand, said Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi today.
He said this at a virtual media briefing when he was asked about whether India would supply vaccines to these two countries, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
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Bagchi’s reply came against the backdrop of his remarks made while answering the previous question on India’s efforts to secure supply of Covid-19 vaccines from the United States during Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent visit to that country and India’s efforts to scale up domestic Covid-19 output.
Asked about vaccines supplies from the US, Bagchi said, “Indian government has been making all-out efforts to augment the availability of vaccines in India, whether through enhanced production in the country or supply from abroad.”
He said India “is also engaged with the US administration to ensure that necessary components and raw materials for vaccine production in India are readily available.”
The issue of the Covid-19 vaccine was taken up during Jaishankar’s recent visit to the US and “it is in our mutual interest to combat the global pandemic by expediting vaccination efforts,” said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman.
