PM Modi at G20: India ready to produce 5 billion vaccines by 2022-end

Rome/New Delhi, Oct 30 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday invited G20 countries to make India their partner in the economic recovery and supply chain diversification, and also said that India is ready to produce five billion vaccine doses by the end of next year, which would be available for Indians and the world.

In his intervention at the G20 Summit’s Session on Global Economy and Global Health, held at the Roma Convention Centre, Prime Minister Modi enunciated India’s concept of One Earth One Health, an international collaborative effort to combat Covid-19, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, briefing media.

According to Shringla, the Prime Minister’s vision of One Earth One Health was “well received by G20 leaders; it is something very important to the international community, and we are looking at comprehensive global solutions to dealing with inequities”, adding, that India’s approach is “to the global common good”.

The Prime Minister “stressed on the need for resilient global supply chains, and mentioned India’s economic reforms, and the lowering of the cost of doing business with India, and on the culture of innovation in India”.

The PM “invited G20 countries to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification”.

The Prime Minister also said that “despite challenges of the pandemic India has remained a trusted partner, and the Indian IT sector and BPOs did not allow the pandemic to come in the way of our contribution in global processes”.

The Prime Minister also “expressed satisfaction over the G20 decision to come up with a 15 percent minimum corporate tax, to make the global financial architecture just and fair”.

This will ensure that companies don’t go to the lowest tax haven in order to avoid paying tax, and that large multinational companies pay taxes where they are located in, the Foreign Secretary added.

In 2014, at the G20 summit, the Prime Minister had proposed this idea of a minimum corporate tax to prevent evasion of taxes, Shringla added.
The G20 has accepted it, it is an important step towards rationalization of the tax structures, and to tackle tax evasion, money laundering, corruption, some of the issues that G20 is currently dealing with, Shringla said.
The Prime Minister also conveyed about India having achieved one billion vaccinations.

“The Prime Minister said that India is ready to produce 5 billion vaccine doses by the end of next year, it will be available for our citizens and the world, it will be our contribution to reduce vaccine inequities in the developing world,” he added.

“We also believe the WHO approval of Emergency authorization for Covaxin would facilitate this process of our assisting other countries,” Shringla added.
There was also emphasis on vaccine research, manufacturing, and innovation, he said.
The PM also spoke about facilitating international travel, he mentioned it in his statement at the G20, and talked about a mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification, Shringla added.