Ready to work with UN to ensure COVID-19 vaccine aid to Syria: India
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India's deputy permanent representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said New Delhi continues to stand with the people of Syria in the grave hour of need.
India, which has shipped critical supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to nations globally, has said it stands ready to work with the United Nations and its agencies to ensure the doses are delivered to people of Syria facing a dire situation compounded by the pandemic and food insecurity.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly's high-level panel on the human rights situation in Syria on Tuesday, India's deputy permanent representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said New Delhi continues to stand with the people of Syria in the grave hour of need.
India had extended $12 million in humanitarian assistance through bilateral and multilateral channels to Syria and last July the country had supplied more than 10 MT (metric tonnes) of medical supplies. Earlier this month, more than 2000 MT of food supplies were delivered to Syria.
"We also stand ready to work with the UN and its agencies to ensure COVID-19 vaccines can be brought to the aid and assistance of the people of Syria," Naidu said.
India's contribution towards providing critical supplies of the COVID-19 vaccines around the world are being widely applauded, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailing India for being a "global leader in pandemic response efforts" for having provided critical medicines, diagnostic kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment to more than 150 countries.
Under the initiative "vaccine maitri", which translates into vaccine friendship, India has been providing vaccines to the world. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had told the Security Council last month that while India is a significant source of supply to the COVAX, the global vaccine access facility spearheaded by World Health Organization, the country is also directly sending vaccines to friends and partners.