World Economic Forum: More vaccines can be expected from India, says PM Modi at Davos Agenda Summit

New Delhi, Jan 28: India will soon make available many more COVID-19 vaccines to other countries after two Made-In-India jabs have already been introduced to the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday while emphasising the country''s global responsibility in fighting the pandemic.

While addressing the forum, Modi said,''We focussed at developing COVID-specific health infrastructure, today India is among those countries where the number of people infected is decreasing.''

''Amid apprehensions, I have come before you with a message of confidence, positivity, and hope for the world on the behalf on more than 1.3 billion Indians,'' Modi said at World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda.

The Prime Minister said,''It was a challenging phase when COVID19 hit India. There were experts who predicted that India will be worst hit by the pandemic. But with public participation India is now among those countries which saved maximum lives due to COVID19.''

''In just 12 days, India has vaccinated more than 2.3 million healthcare workers. In next some months, we will achieve our target of vaccinating 300 million elderly people and people with comorbidities,'' Modi said.

''Right now there are two made in India vaccines. World Economic Forum will be relieved to know that in the time to come many more vaccines will come from India,'' he also said.
In the next few months, we would complete our target of vaccinating 30 crore old people and people with co-morbidities, he said.

He said India has ensured that it follows its global responsibility by sending essential medicines to over 150 countries while COVID-19 vaccines are also being sent to other countries.

"While two India-made vaccines have already been introduced to the world, many more vaccines will be made available from India," he said.

"India''s upcoming vaccines will help other countries at a swifter pace to fight the pandemic," he added.

"In this time of crisis, India has also fulfilled its global responsibility from the beginning, following thousands of years old prayer of our country -- ''Sarvey Santu Niramaya'': May the whole world be healthy," he said.

He said 18 per cent of the world''s population is in India and it is a country that saved mankind from a big disaster by saving its citizens from the pandemic.

We''re not only fulfilling our needs of PPE kits and masks, but also exporting and helping other countries. India has started the world''s largest vaccination drive as well, he said.

"We guided the world on how India''s traditional medicine, Ayurveda, can help in improving immunity. Today, India is sending its vaccine to several countries and is helping in developing the infrastructure for successful vaccination, thus saving lives of citizens of other countries," he said.

With a consistent rise in cumulative recoveries, India''s COVID-19 recovery rate has reached nearly 97 per cent which is one of the highest globally, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

India''s total number of active cases has dropped to 1,73,740 and now consists of just 1.62 per cent of the total cases at 1.07 crore. Nearly 1.53 lakh people have lost their lives in the country so far.

Later, interacting with business leaders on the WEF platform, Modi said the COVID-19 crisis has taught us the basics of human values and that ''Industry 4.0 is for humans, and not robots".

He called for ensuring that technology becomes a tool for ease of living and not a trap.

Modi said India has stressed a lot on reforms and incentive-based stimulus in recent times. Even during COVID-19, India has paced structural reforms in all sectors and these reforms are being supported by PLI-schemes, he said.

"During the corona crisis, many countries were worried about how to reach their citizens directly financially, but you will be shocked to know that during this time India has transferred more than Rs 1.8 lakh crore directly to the bank accounts of more than 76 crore people," he added.

He also referred to a new initiative to provide a unique health ID to 1.3 billion citizens for easy access to healthcare.

"I assure you that every success of India will help the world to succeed. Our Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission is fully committed to global good and global supply chain," he said.

Modi also talked about Aadhaar, UPI transactions and data privacy laws.

India continued its economic activities during COVID with infrastructure work worth trillions of rupees, providing employment, the prime minister said.

"We stressed on saving every single life. India, now, is walking ahead to become Aatmanirbhar," he said.

The event runs throughout the week with daily themes on subjects like economic systems, responsible growth, cooperation and the harnessing of technologies in the 4th Industrial Revolution - a common theme at Davos events. The annual event in Davos typically draws thousands of elites to the Alpine snows to discuss ways of building a better future.

The Davos Dialogues agenda marks the launch of the World Economic Forum's great reset initiative in the post-COVID-19 world.