India to supply COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh once mass production starts

India’s Foreign Secretary announced that India will be supplying COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh after the production starts in the country.

India’s foreign secretary Harsh Shringla on Wednesday said that India will be supplying COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh after production starts in the country. The assurance was made when the foreign secretary was on a meeting with Bangladesh counterpart Masud Bin Momen in Dhaka.

After Bhutan, Bangladesh is the second country which has agreed to be a part of COVID trails. Bangladesh was persuaded to refuse an offer by China to be a part of human vaccine trials. Thus vaccine diplomacy has aroused as a new game in the world with more and more countries have started producing vaccines against COVID-19.

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Addressing the issue Harsh Shringla said, “Bangladesh has always been a priority country for India and when the vaccine is produced, it goes without saying that our closest neighbours, friends, partners and other countries will be a part of that.”

The meeting definitely shows good relationship and coordination between the two neighboring countries. Masud Bin has also reacted positively as he said, “We offered that we can  extend our assistance if needed, especially in terms of a vaccine trial.”

India supplies 60% of the world’s total vaccine need. It is also the home to Serum Institute of India which is the largest vaccine making company in the world. Currently three vaccines are being developed in the country – Oxford-Serum institute, Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech-ICMR.