India will adopt the ‘Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) model' to give other countries access to Covid vaccines being manufactured in the country.
This is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledge to make the shield against coronavirus available to all humanity.
During the beginning of the pandemic, India had adopted a policy to make HCQ available to friendly countries after studies indicated that the anti-malaria drug could be used as a prophylaxis. Bangladesh also received the HCQ from New Delhi. Besides, sending HCQ supplies as assistance, India had commercially supplied half a billion HCQ tablets to 82 countries.
According to Hindustan Times, Prime Minister Modi has been “keen to stay deeply engaged with the world during the global pandemic and had made it a point that the pharmaceutical industry plays a role to cement India’s relations with friendly countries.”
India's neighbours and closest friends would, however, be given the first priority, according to the report.
India's commitment to supply 12 million doses of the vaccine to Nepal, which will be conveyed to Kathmandu when foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali lands in New Delhi next week, is part of this template.
Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had indicated the broad contours of this approach to extend India's vaccine umbrella to countries in south Asia when he travelled to Nepal late last year.
"The first priority will be for our closest neighbours, our friends," Shringla had said.
Indian diplomats said this HCQ format would be replicated elsewhere in the region but the terms of the arrangement could be different.
“There could be a certain quantity of the vaccine that is made available on a grant basis while the rest would be on a commercial basis.”
Bangladesh, which had contracted for 30 million doses via Beximco Pharmaceutical Company, has granted approval to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. The vaccines are expected to start landing in Dhaka from early February.
Besides, Bangladesh is expecting to get about 70 million more
