Abdullah Shahid praises India for supplying COVID-19 vaccines, essential medicines to world

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives and President-Elect of the 76th UN General Assembly, Abdullah Shahid, on Friday commended India's generosity for ensuring COVID-19 vaccine supply to 95 countries and providing essential medicines to 150 countries around the world.

Shahid was speaking at the 4th Sapru House Lecture on the challenges faced by Maldives democracy.

Abdullah also informed us that the "world economy shrank by 4.3 per cent in 2020, while many countries fell into debt. Global poverty has also increased, pushing almost 114 million people to lose their jobs."

Meanwhile, Indian multilateralist Manjeev Puri said, "We are pleased to see a South-Asian chairing the UN General Assembly."

The Indian Council for World Affairs (ICWA) Director-General TCA Raghavan also expressed that "It is an honour for the Indian Council of World Affairs to have Abdullah Shahid deliver the Sapru House Lecture today."

Shahid Abdullah was addressing the 38th Sapru House Lecture on the COVID pandemic and the need for reformed multilateralism. The Sapru House Lecture is the flagship public lecture series dedicated to the founders of ICWA.