Quad summit agrees to ramp up manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines in India

The first online summit of leaders of the US, India, Japan and Australia today agreed to a plan to pool their financial and logistical resources to ramp up the manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines in India and distribution in the Indo-Pacific region.

"This is a special initiative designed proactively to mitigate impact of the pandemic among countries in Indo-Pacific," Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told the media while briefing on the outcome of the Quad summit that brought together US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Premier Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The Indian foreign secretary said India welcomes the Quad vaccine initiative "as it recognises our own manufacturing capacities and capabilities."

"It is also a validation of our reputation as a reliable manufacturer of high-quality vaccines and pharmaceutical products during this Covid-19 crisis… And I must say that during the discussions, there was a wholesome appreciation by the other Quad leaders on India's role in providing vaccines to 70 countries all over the world under the Vaccine Maitri initiative," Shringla said.

He made it clear that the Quad is going to create additional vaccine capacities and this would not in any way affect India's domestic vaccine production and roll-out.

India is carrying out its own Covid-19 vaccination drive using Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin jabs, made by Bharat Biotech, and supplied the same to several countries in the form of grant as well as through commercial deals.

The aim of the Quad initiative on Covid-19 vaccine is to reduce manufacturing backlogs, speed up vaccination and address coronavirus mutations, Indian officials said.