External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that only the “non-serious” and “irresponsible” people could make an argument against India’s export of the Covid-19 vaccines to other nations.
Jaishankar defended the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to supply the “Made-in-India” Covid-19 vaccines to other nations, even as it drew flak from the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena and the other Opposition parties.
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The External Affairs Minister indicated that he could cite New Delhi’s decision to export the jabs to build his argument to ask the other nations to continue supplying raw materials required to produce the Covid-19 vaccines in India.
“As a foreign minister, I'm pushing other countries, particularly some big countries, saying – look, please keep the raw materials flowing for vaccines to be made in India,” he said at an online event hosted by the All India Management Association (AIMA).
“If you ask why are you exporting (vaccines) at all, somebody will ask – “Why am I exporting to India?”. That is so short-sighted. Only non-serious, irresponsible people can make that argument,” said the diplomat-turned-politician. He apparently wanted to drive home the point if New Delhi had not exported vaccines, the other nations would have also stopped supplying raw materials required to produce the jabs as well as other essentials to India.
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India has delivered 64 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines to more than 80 countries.
But with the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic raging across the country and several states complaining about a shortage of vaccines, the Modi government’s decision to export jabs to other nations drew flak from not only from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal as well as from TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It was also criticized by the Shiv Sena, which shares power with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party in worst-hit Maharashtra.
“It's not that we aren't prioritising our people,” said Jaishankar. “As things got tough, we spoke to the world and said we tried our best to live up to commitments but please understand that we have a very serious situation at home and most countries understand that.”
Jaishankar hinted that he was leading New Delhi’s diplomatic effort to make the US lift the ban on the export of raw materials required for production of vaccines, a move which slowed down manufacturing of the jabs in India.