Jaishankar to pay 5-day visit to US from May 24; Vaccine procurement on agenda

New Delhi, May 21: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is likely to travel to the United States from 24-28 May 2021. The issue of vaccine procurement is expected to be a key agenda during Jaishankar's interaction with US leadership and other stakeholders.

"The External Affairs Minister will be visiting the United States from 24-28 May 2021," the MEA said in a statement.

In New York, Jaishankar is expected to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"In Washington DC, the 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," the MEA said in a statement.

It said he will have two interactions with business forums on economic and COVID-related cooperation between the two countries.

Procurement of coronavirus vaccines and raw materials to boost domestic production is set to be a major focus area during his visit to US.

Hit by a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, India has been focusing on ramping up domestic production of Covid-19 vaccines as well their procurement from abroad.

The US announced earlier this week that it will share an additional 20 million coronavirus vaccine doses with other countries in addition to the 60 million it has already committed.

The Biden administration has not yet announced the possible recipients of the vaccine doses.

Earlier this month, the US sent to India raw materials for vaccine production which it said would enable the manufacture of 20 million doses of the Covishield vaccines.

Providing raw materials for the production of coronavirus vaccines was a major component of the Biden administration''s announcement on medical aid to India.