The US in support of India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic?

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on a five-day official visit to the United States starting today till May 28. EAM is expected to discuss COVID-19 which tops his agenda as well as other related healthcare issues. Besides that, an entire range of international and regional issues such as Afghanistan as well as the deepening of bilateral relationships between India and the United States will be discussed, writes ETV Bharat's Chandrakala Choudhury.

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on a five-day official visit to the United States starting today till May 28. He began his official tour by visiting New York on Monday after India entered the United Security Council on January 1, 2021.

During his stay in the United States, EAM is expected to discuss COVID-19 which tops his agenda as well as other related healthcare issues. Besides that, an entire range of international and regional issues such as Afghanistan as well as the deepening of bilateral relationships between India and the United States will be discussed.

Significance of his visit

Jaishankar’s visit comes at a time when India is battling the deadly wave of coronavirus and the healthcare system is sinking as the country reels under shortage of vaccines, life-gasping oxygen and other healthcare aid. And also his visit is the first in-person after Biden took over as the President of the United States.

Meanwhile, as many countries have come forward to help India in its fight against the second wave of the pandemic, Delhi is engaged with the United States administration in the procurement and manufacturing of the vaccines, which is expected to ease out the vaccination drive in the country.

Therefore, Jaishankar’s visit will focus on vaccine production which is going to set forth the strong vaccine diplomacy between the two nations, considered necessary as the pandemic hits the world hard.

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Speaking to ETV Bharat, Former Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar said, "Jaishankar’s visit is relevant also because there is a very rapid change that is taking place in the geopolitical circumstances. It comes after the first Quad summit that took place on 12 March and also his visit comes after the very strong support that the United States has displayed to deal with the pandemic in India. Therefore, his visit is basically to further strengthen the cooperation and find additional avenues and areas, where we can work together."

"There are going to be three issues that will be discussed during his visit –Firstly, in terms of the waiver of the Defense Production Act, second is in terms of supply chain issue-raw materials required by Indian companies for vaccine production and the third is in terms of TRIP's waiver at the WTO. American’s say that the waiving of patent rights should be for 16-18 months, whereas India says it would be for three years, on the other hand, India has a much broader demand list of medical equipment, in addition to the vaccines. These are some of the pressing issues even with the United States and this will be the topic of discussion”, he pointed.

India-US bonhomie

Sajjanhar says that Jaishankar’s visit will further strengthen and revitalize the partnership and both sides are also expected to discuss how to deal with the increasing aggressiveness and assertiveness of China.

The United States has been at the global forefront in helping India fight the battle against the deadly second wave.

Earlier, white press secretary Jen Psaki told members of the White House Foreign Press Group that to date, the United States has provided over USD 500 million in COVID relief to India, including contributions from the US federal and state governments, American companies, private organizations and private citizens.

As India battles the devastating COVID-19 crisis, the US had decided in April this year to lift the embargo on the export of raw materials required by SII for the production of Covishield.

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The development took place after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and US counterpart Jake Sullivan in April had a phone conversation regarding the dangerous spike in COVID-19 infections across the country. Sullivan affirmed America’s solidarity with India, the two countries with the greatest number of COVID-19 cases in the world.

Moreover, some days ago, US President Joe Biden announced that the US will begin shipping 20 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson’s covid vaccines to countries in need by June, in addition to 60 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses as soon as they are reviewed by FDA.

Therefore, while seeking vaccines for India, External Affairs Minister will also push the issue of scarcity of the drug in India. Countries like Bangladesh, Nepal were earlier sent batches of vaccine from India but as India itself is struggling to procure enough vaccines, the export has been stopped to other neighbouring countries.

On Tuesday (25 May), Jaishankar is scheduled to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. This is his first visit to the UN after India assumed the non-permanent membership and therefore, his visit will further provide a platform to present India’s approach to the UNSC agenda.

Thereafter, in Washington DC, External Affairs Minister will hold discussions with his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He will also be meeting Cabinet members and Senior Officials of the Administration dealing with the bilateral relationship. External Affairs Minister will have two interactions with business forums on economic & COVID-related cooperation between India and the US, the MEA said in a statement.

There is also a possibility of EAM meeting vaccine manufacturers in the US but there is no official confirmation of the meeting yet.