No request yet from Pak for Covid vaccines, says MEA

New Delhi: It is “hypothetical at this stage” – was a brief and rather sharp reaction from Ministry of External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava when asked whether India would supply the vaccines if formal requests for the same came from across the border. He also maintained, “I am not aware of any request for the supply of Indian made vaccines to Pakistan on a Government to Government basis or commercial basis”.

The crystal clear comment came when New Delhi has already sent consignments of coronavirus vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Mauritius and Seychelles. India will be undertaking commercial supplies of the doses to a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil and Morocco.

“There is interest in many countries in accessing vaccines from India which is the global hub for vaccine production,” Srivastava remarked adding, “you would recall that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already stated that India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity would be used for the benefit of all humanity in fighting this crisis”.

India’s grant assistance of vaccines against the killer but unseen virus to the neighbouring countries commenced on January 20. On the first day, 1.5 lakh doses of vaccines were supplied to Bhutan and one lakh doses to Maldives as grant assistance. Ten lakh doses have been provided to Nepal and 20 lakh doses to Bangladesh. Consignments of 15 lakh doses for Myanmar, one lakh doses to Mauritius and 50,000 doses to Seychelles have been also cleared. He said, “Supplies as grant assistance to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will be undertaken after receiving confirmation of regulatory clearances from these two countries”.

Even as the MEA spokesman maintained that India will continue to supply COVID-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner, it will be ensured that domestic manufacturers will have “adequate stocks” to meet domestic requirements while supplying abroad.

In terms of quantities and types of vaccines, the supplies abroad on Government to Government, Government to Business and Business to Business basis would be based on availability and regulatory approvals in the countries concerned. India is one of the world’s biggest drugmakers, and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for the vaccines.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield is being manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute, and Covaxin is being produced by Bharat Biotech of Hyderabad.

Biden’s Def Secy to press asked Pak not to allow abuse of territories by militants. MEA spokesman Srivastava also said, “As the new administration takes shape (in the US), India will continue to remain engaged at all levels and work together to further consolidate vibrant relationship”.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s Defence Secretary-nominee Lloyd Austin has said that he will press Pakistan to stop giving sanctuary to terror organizations. He also said that his “overarching objective” with regard to relations with India would be to continue elevating the partnership between two countries. President Biden has nominated him as his Defense Secretary. In written replies to questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee, he said, “If confirmed, I will press Pakistan to prevent its territory from being used as a sanctuary for militants and violent extremist organizations.”

Both the Senate and the House of Representative voted on Thursday to give him a waiver from a US law that prohibits retired military officials from becoming defence secretaries for seven years after their retirement. Gen Austin retired in 2016. He was also asked if there were changes in Islamabad’s cooperation with Washington since it withheld security assistance in 2018. He wrote, “Pakistan has also taken steps against anti-Indian groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), although this progress is incomplete”.

“Many factors in addition to the security assistance suspension may impact Pakistan’s cooperation, including Afghanistan negotiations and the dangerous escalation following the Pulwama terrorist attack.” After the Pulwama attack in February 2019, as the Modi government had stepped up diplomatic efforts in multiple ways, Pakistan felt more of the international pressure on the issue of providing logistic support to terrorist and terror bodies. At least 40 Indian security personnel were killed in the ill conceived Pulwama terrorist attack.