World Counting on India to Make Vaccine Affordable: S Jaishankar

S Jaishankar said that the world counts on India to make the COVID vaccine affordable and accessible for all.

FIle image of Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar.

(Photo: IANS/Twitter)

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday, 16 November, spoke at the third edition of Deccan Dialogue, stating that the world was counting on the government of India to make COVID-19 vaccine affordable and accessible for all, according to ANI.

“PM Modi has committed to the UN that we will help make vaccines accessible and affordable to all. And believe me, from the regular conversations I have had with so many counterparts, the world is counting on us to do so.”

S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister

Indian School of Business hosts the Deccan Dialogue annually for the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. It is aimed at promoting a conversation between stakeholders on India's external engagement.

Speaking on the COVID-19 situation, EAM Jaishankar stressed the need for cooperation between all countries, and India’s role as a first responder during times of crisis.

"In the last few years, India has emerged as the first responder in our immediate vicinity to humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief situations. We have been there, whether it was the Nepal earthquake, the Yemen civil war, the Mozambique cyclone and the Sri Lanka mudslides," he said.

Further, he spoke on terrorism and highlighted that although there is a wider recognition of the “global nature of international terrorism”, the world still lacks a “wholehearted international effort” for countering it.

“We have in our immediate neighborhood, a particularly egregious example of state-sponsored cross border terrorism,” Jaishankar also said, according to ANI.

He further stated that India’s efforts have “kept it in spotlight, bringing out related aspects like terror finance, radicalisation and cyber recruitment” and added that “Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has become a more important forum and black money is today firmly on the agenda of the G20."

This edition of Deccan Dialogue is set to deliberate on the theme of ''Crisis and Cooperation: Imperative in the times of Pandemic'', and brings together local, national and international stakeholders to discuss, address and respond to crisis.

(with inputs from ANI)