New Delhi: Expressing hope that the Indian government would be able to counter the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia on Monday said that the approval of Sputnik V vaccines by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) will be completed soon.
This comes after the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, earlier today, amid the surge in Covid 19 cases in India, gave a nod to the Russian Sputnik V vaccines for 'emergency use authorization, making it the third after the Covaxin and Covishield to get clearance in India.
"We note the reports that a committee of experts recommended SputnikV for use in India", said Nicolay Kudashev, the Russian ambassador to India.
"This step would contribute to the efforts of the Indian government to counter the pandemic. We hope the approval by the DCGI will be completed soon", he added.
The DCGI is yet to give its approval to the Sputnik V vaccines roll out in the country.
Read: Congress takes jibe at Minister over Sputnik V's approval
Earlier this month, during his visit to India, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out that Russia has signed several contracts with Indian firms to manufacture over 700 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine and said that there is every possibility that Indian vaccines could manufacture in Russia soon.
He also lauded India's vaccine manufacturing capacity and reiterated that Russia has strong cooperation with India in combating the Covid 19 pandemic.
India's vaccine diplomacy has reached a great height and has received accolades globally. Under its vaccine Maitri initiative, India has sent COVAXIN to three-four countries abroad and going forward it would certainly like to promote "made in India and invented in India", as said by EAM Jaishankar, during his bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart Lavrov.
Also Read: Indian Pharma giant to produce 200 million doses of Sputnik V every year
