PM Modi calls for mutual recognition of vaccine certificates to make international travel easier

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India has always seen humanity as one family. He said, India’s pharmaceutical industry has produced cost-effective diagnostic kits, drugs, medical devices and PPE kits and these are providing affordable options to many developing countries. In his remarks at the Global COVID-19 Summit, Mr Modi said, earlier this year, India shared the vaccine production with 95 other countries and with UN peacekeepers and like a family, the world also stood with India when it was going through a second wave. He thanked all for the solidarity and support. The Prime Minister said, India is now running the world’s largest vaccination campaign. He said, recently, 25 million people were vaccinated on a single day. He said, Country’s grassroots level healthcare system has delivered over 800 million vaccine doses so far. Mr Modi said, over 200 million Indians are now fully vaccinated. He said, as newer Indian vaccines get developed, Government of India is also ramping up production capacity of existing vaccines. The Prime Minister said, as the production increases, Government will be able to resume vaccine supplies to others too. He said, for this, the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open. Mr Modi said, there is also need to focus on addressing the pandemic’s economic effects. He said, to that end, international travel should be made easier, through mutual recognition of vaccine certificates.