US and India united in battling Covid-19 together, says Blinken

WaShINgTON: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States and India are united in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and Washington is determined to help India with its public health crisis.

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who has spent the past week in the US seeking help amid a devastating second wave of infections at home, told reporters while standing with Blinken at a

State Department meeting that India is grateful to Washington for strong support and solidarity.

“In the earlier days of Covid, India was there for the United States – something we will never forget,” Blinken said.

“And now we want to make sure that we’re there for India as well. We’re united in confronting Covid19 together,” he added.

He said the two countries were also united in addressing climate change and were partnered directly through the Quad – a four country group that also includes Japan and Australia – and through UN institutions “in dealing with many of the challenges we face in the region and around the world”.

India this month has recorded its highest death toll since the pandemic began last year.

Only about 3% of India’s 1.3 billion people have been fully vaccinated, the lowest rate among the 10 countries with the most cases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has faced mounting criticism for its failure to secure Covid-19 vaccines for its people, even though India is one of the world’s biggest producers of vaccines. Indian officials have said Jaishankar has been seeking supplies while in the US. Jaishankar said India was appreciative to Washington for its “strong support and solidarity at a moment of great difficulty for us”.

US Acting Assistant Secretary for South Asia Dean Thompson later told a briefing hosted by the State Department’s Foreign Press Centre that vaccine manufacturing, procurement and delivery were discussed with Jaishankar, but declined to give details.