In US, PM Modi pushes for ‘mutual recognition of vaccine certificates’

In his video remarks at the Global Covid Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden, Modi also said India is ramping up production capacity of existing vaccines and the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit US this week. (Photo: Twitter/@narendramodi)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who left for the United States on Wednesday, said international travel should be made easier through “mutual recognition of vaccine certificates”.

In his video remarks at the Global Covid Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden, Modi also said India is ramping up production capacity of existing vaccines and the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented disruption. It is not yet over. Much of the world is still to be vaccinated. That is why this initiative by President Biden is timely, and welcome… We also need to focus on addressing the pandemic’s economic effects. To that end, international travel should be made easier through mutual recognition of vaccine certificates,” Modi said.

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“India is now running the world’s largest vaccination campaign. Recently, we vaccinated about 25 million people on a single day. Our grassroots-level healthcare system has delivered over 800 million vaccine doses so far. Over 200 million Indians are now fully vaccinated. This has been enabled through the use of our innovative digital platform called Co-Win. In the spirit of sharing, India has made Co-Win, and many other digital solutions, available freely and open source software,” he said.

As India looks to resume export of Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations, Modi said “supply chains of raw materials must be kept open”. “As newer Indian vaccines get developed, we are also ramping up production capacity of existing vaccines. As our production increases, we will be able to resume vaccine supplies to others, too. For this, the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open. With our Quad partners, we are leveraging India’s manufacturing in producing vaccines for the India-Pacific region,” he said.

Grateful to the Indian community in Washington DC for the warm welcome. Our diaspora is our strength. It is commendable how the Indian diaspora has distinguished itself across the world. pic.twitter.com/6cw2UR2uLH

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 22, 2021

In his departure statement earlier in the day, Modi said he would review India-US ties with US President Joe Biden and exchange views on regional and global issues of “mutual interest”, and discuss cooperation in science and technology with Vice President Kamala Harris.

This clear demarcation of agenda items between the US President and Vice President sought to signal that the Prime Minister has separated the priority issues for his discussions with both leaders.

Sources said Modi is expected to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s role in fuelling terrorism in the region, Indo-Pacific strategy and China’s belligerence with Biden.

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With Harris, who had called up Modi in June and conveyed the US decision to supply vaccines, sources said the cooperation in vaccine production and challenges due to the pandemic are expected to be on the agenda.

“During my visit, I will review the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with President Biden and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. I am also looking forward to meeting Vice President Kamala Harris to explore opportunities for cooperation between our two nations particularly in the area of science and technology,” he said.

Kaunain Sheriff M

Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health. His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award. Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time. Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More

Shubhajit Roy

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More

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