US offers $25 million to India's vaccination drive
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New Delhi: After meeting with India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US will be contributing $25 million to support India's vaccination drive. S Jaishankar thanked the US for its "truly exceptional" support during the second wave of Covid-19.
Blinken tweeted that the US government will be providing $25 million to India through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). He wrote that he is proud of strengthening the vaccine supply chain across India.
"We focus today on expanding vaccine production to make it globally affordable and accessible. We also discussed travel challenges resulting from COVID-19," said S Jaishankar.
The duo discussed cooperating to deal with the impacts of the ongoing pandemic. S Jaishankar thanked the US for playing a part in keeping the supply chain for raw materials needed for vaccine production in India open. Blinken also recalled the assistance India provided to the US in the initial stages of the pandemic when the country was hit hard.
S Jaishankar had said that the ability of India and the US to work closely benefits the international community as a whole.
Blinken had announced at an event in the US embassy that the country is planning to conduct 68,000 student visa interviews by the end of August. S Jaishankar said the US has been very forthcoming on the issue of students and added that he appreciates all the trouble the State Department and the Embassy have gone to in that regard.
"We may end up sending more students to the United States this year than ever before as a result of your work. And that's important in so many different ways, but it's particularly important because this is where enduring connections are made between the United States and India," added the External Affairs Minister.
He added that the relationship between India and the US is vital, and there are few relationships like that. Blinken said that these relationships that are going to be established now will endure for years, decades, and generations.