Washington The Biden administration has pressured Prime Minister Narendra Modi to let India resume exporting vaccines against Covid-19 and link it to a possible prominent role for him at a world summit The President of the United States , Joe Biden, plans to stay out of UN general assembly meetings.
“We have regularly contacted (the) government of India through bilateral and multilateral channels to discuss the supply of vaccines and find out about the timing of exports,” a US official said in the news release. of Aix, who insisted at the same time that “these talks are not tied to a specific summit or engagement.”
Prime Minister Modi’s participation in the summit will not depend on his agreement to resume vaccine exports.
The summit has not yet been announced.
Prime Minister Modi will join his Australian and Japanese counterparts – Scott Morrison and Yoshihide Suga – and President Biden for the first personal Quad summit here at the White House on September 24, according to ministry and affairs announcements external and the White House. And the pandemic is on the agenda, along with climate change and the Indo-Pacific.
India stopped exporting Covid-19 vaccines earlier this year after facing internal criticism for not inoculating enough Indians locally as a result of a massive increase in cases caused by the more virulent variant of Delta .
India is in a much better place, with half of the eligible populations having received at least one vaccine.
Axis reported that Biden administration officials have said they understand this is a sensitive issue and have therefore decided to take a “soft approach” from Modi and added, citing officials, that the administration has ” “Decided not to try to arm Modi strongly by conditioning his participation in his desire to release vaccines to COVAX. He will be welcome regardless of his decision.”
The United States had banned the export of Covid-19 vaccines as it tried to gather all available resources to vaccinate Americans and build a stockpile of vaccines for use nationwide, invoking special powers of the president during the war. This had generated a shortage of raw material for vaccines in India as supply was blocked for shipment.
The United States lifted the curbs as part of a relief package it announced for India to help it cope with the crippling increase in Delta-powered cases, along with oxygen converters. , therapeutic products such as remdesivir and personal protective equipment for health workers.
The Biden administration plans to encourage summit participants to contribute vaccines to the WHO-led COVAX initiative, which seeks to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide. Some countries have distributed vaccines through a bilateral agreement to gain and build diplomatic equity.
Axios reported that the Biden administration plans to invite Russia, which has moved away from COVAxX, to the summit, as well as China.