Nepal PM Oli thanks India for Covishield vaccine

Nepal PM KP Oli thanked the Indian government for Covishield vaccine on Thursday. India had earlier supplied hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries to help them deal with the pandemic.

Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli on Thursday thanked the Indian government for sending 1 million doses of Covishield vaccine under a grants assistance programme.

"I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji as well as the Government and people of India for the generous grant of one million doses of COVID vaccine to Nepal at this critical time when India is rolling out vaccination for it's own people," Oli tweeted.

Earlier in the day, India delivered 2 million vaccine doses to Bangladesh also under the grants assistance programme. On Wednesday, India sent 1,50,000 doses of Covishield vaccines to Bhutan and 1,00,000 doses to the Maldives.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied to Oli's tweet. "Thank you PM @kpsharmaoli. India remains committed to assist the people of Nepal in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccines being made in India will also contribute to the global efforts to contain the pandemic," Modi wrote on the microblogging platform.

India, one of the world's biggest drugmakers, has been approached by numerous countries for its anti-coronavirus doses.

While the Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield is being manufactured by the Serum Institute, the Covaxin doses are being produced by Bharat Biotech.

India had earlier supplied hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries to help them deal with the pandemic.

PTI