G20 Summit: India ready to produce 5 billion Covid vaccine doses by 2022 end, says PM Modi

Rome, Oct 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted India's contribution to the fight against coronavirus disease during his intervention at the first G20 session on Saturday.

"In his intervention at the first session, PM Modi highlighted India's contribution to fight against COVID. He mentioned India's medical supplies to over 150 countries and spoke about our vision of One Earth, One Health which is essentially collaborative approach in fight against COVID," said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

"PM Modi invited G20 countries to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification. He also brought out the fact that despite challenges of the pandemic, India continued to be a trusted partner in context of reliable supply chains," he said.

"PM Modi conveyed that India is ready to produce 5 billion vaccine doses by the end of next year... We also believe that WHO's EUA for Covaxin would felicitate this process of assisting other countries," he further said.

The foreign secretary also informed that Pope Francis has accepted PM Modi's invitation and looking forward to visit India. "The meeting between PM Modi and Pope Francis which was scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted for around an hour," he said.

The last papal visit to India was in 1999 when Pope John Paul II visited the country. Pope Francis has accepted PM Modi's invitation.

PM Modi will attend an event hosted by US President Joe Biden on "Supply Chain Resilience" and hold other bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome tomorrow.