SAARC Diary: India’s Vaccine Gift to Sri Lanka
NEW DELHI, Jan 28: India on Thursday dispatched 500,000 doses of COVISHIELD Vaccines as donation to Sri Lanka. Gopal Baglay, the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, received the consignment in Colombo and handed over the made in India vaccine to the President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Sri Lankan president in a tweet thanked India for the assistance. “Received 500,000 #COVIDー19 vaccines provided by #peopleofindia at #BIA today(28). Thank you! PM Shri @narendramodi & #peopleofindia for the generosity shown towards #PeopleofSriLanka at this time in need.”
S Jaishankar the Minister of External Affairs in a tweet message stated, “A dependable partner, a reliable friend. Made in India vaccines reach Sri Lanka now.”
The Indian High Commission in Colombo wished everyone a blessed “Poya Daya” and stated, “Duruthu Poya Day, which marks the first visit of Buddha to Sri Lanka from (modern) India, coincides with the arrival of 5,00,000 doses COVISHIELD vaccine from India”.
Baglay prayed at the sacred Gangaramaya Temple, for the health and well-being of the people of Sri Lanka and sought the blessings of Dr Kirinde Assaji Thero and as per the Buddhist traditions in India and Sri Lanka offered meals to devotees at the Temple.
The COVISHIELD vaccine shipment from Oxford-AstraZeneca is, manufactured by Serum Institute of India and was packaged in custom boxes and shipped through a special Air India flight on Thursday morning. It has authorisation by the Government of Sri Lanka for emergency use.
The gift from India is aligned with India’s continuing support for Sri Lanka in the war against the COVID-19 pandemic. Four shipments of medical supplies weighing about 25 tonnes have been donated by India, which has also organised virtual experience-sharing services for Sri Lankan medical professionals. The two partners have set up a common front in the COVID-19 war as the main donors to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for SAARC.
Driven by the ‘Neighbourhood First’ and SAGAR policies, since 20 January 2021, approximately 50 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been, provided to neighbouring countries and those in the Gulf and Indian Oceans. Vaccines produced in India have already been shipped to countries as far away as Latin America and West Asia and will continue to reach those in the Caribbean and the Pacific, an official spokesman of the external affairs ministry said.
(Venkatesh Iyer)
