World is counting on India for vaccines: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister said India has responded well to handle Covid crisis. India had no preparedness for such an enormous crisis but the way it responded will give us all confidence in our future

Hyderabad: India is at the heart of international collaborations and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured the United Nations that India will help make the vaccines cheap and accessible, said External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.

While a medical emergency might be upon us but that does not mean India can forget the permanent threats of issues like terrorism, he said.

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Speaking at the third edition of Deccan Dialogue, organised by Indian School of Business together with Ministry of External Affairs, he said India has responded well to handle Covid crisis. India had no preparedness for such an enormous crisis but the way it responded will give us all confidence in our future, he said adding that India addressed the domestic as well as international demand for certain products that include hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol. India initally was not able to provide enough PPEs and ventilators. Even N-95 masks were assembled in small quantities and testing kits were not produced in the country.

“We stepped up production and supplied to 150 countries and more than half of it was on non-commercial terms. Today, the focus has shifted to rapid testing and reliable vaccines — both essential for the return to normalcy. Prime Minister Modi has committed to the United Nations that we will help make vaccines accessible and affordable to all. The world is counting on us,” he said.

The minister said The social discipline in India stood out in comparison with many developed countries.

“If we had created more than 15,000 dedicated facilities, with 1.5 million isolation beds, if more than a million Indians are tested daily by 7,000 centres, if Aarogya Setu was devised to facilitate contact tracing, then it speaks volumes about our inherent capabilities,” Jaishankar said.

Thorugh the Vande Bharat mission, nearly 24 lakh Indians have been repatriated from foreign nations. “From Air India to the Indian Navy we pressed all our resources to achieve this goal. Today’s India will not leave an Indian abroad in distress,” he added. The third edition of Deccan Dialogue deliberated on theme of ‘Crisis and Cooperation: Imperative in the times of Pandemic’.

“As regards terrorism, the era of ‘not my problem’ came to an end in 9/11 but it is still to produce a whole-hearted international collaborative effort,” Jaishankar said

“We have in our immediate neighbourhood a particularly egregious example of state sponsored cross-border terrorism. The world is gradually becoming aware of the global nature of international terrorism. Our relentless efforts have kept it in the spotlight, bringing out related aspects like terror finance, radicalisation and cyber recruitment,” he said.

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