India unlikely to resume ‘Vaccine Maitri’ for neighbours before July

‘Today, our needs are far greater, and all our partners understand that in this context’

India is unlikely to resume its for the neighbourhood, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, until at least July, given the sudden crunch in the availability of vaccines amidst a surge in COVID-19 cases, and the government’s plan for . India had to suspend the export of both commercial and grant-based vaccine doses to countries, including those in the neighbourhood who had already paid for the shipments, with the last batch going out at the beginning of April, when the second wave of the pandemic hit India, leading to record numbers of cases and deaths. When asked on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla would not give a timeline for when the supplies will be restored. “Today, our needs are far greater, and all our partners understand that in this context, today what we require is to ramp up our vaccination programme, to 2-3 billion, so we have to ramp up significantly,” Mr. Shringla said in response to specific questions from the media about whether India’s decision to stop vaccine exports would harm its relations in the neighbourhood and recipient countries. “[India’s] requirement is significant and pressing and whatever we produce we will need for our domestic vaccine programme,” he added.