India will officially begin its vaccine diplomacy on Wednesday by supplying Made-in-India Covid-19 vaccines to its neighbouring and key partner countries.

Bhutan and Maldives will be the first to get the vaccines from Wednesday, followed by Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles. Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius will also get doses once they give necessary regulatory approvals.

A consignment containing 1 lakh doses of Covishield vaccines will reach Male on January 20. With this, Maldives, along with Bhutan, will become the first recipient of the Indian government’s gift, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

New Delhi wants to portray this exercise as yet another testament to its Neighbourhood First policy — the government is going to brand it “Vaccine Maitri”.

Read |6.31 lakh get vaccine: Centre flags hesitancy, asks states to engage
Pakistan has not been named as a neighbouring country which will get the vaccine though Islamabad is exploring options to get it through a global alliance or bilateral arrangements.

Announcing the move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “India is deeply honoured to be a long-trusted partner in meeting the healthcare needs of the global community. Supplies of Covid vaccines to several countries will commence tomorrow, and more will follow in the days ahead.”

#VaccineMaitri #CovidVaccine #Diplomacy

Subscribe to Swarajya on YouTube.

Get a Swarajya subscription: [ Ссылка ]

Website: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть