[the_ad_placement id=”adsense-in-feed”]- globalbihari bureau
New Delhi: India has called upon the G-20 nations to ensure access to essential medicines, treatments and vaccines at affordable prices, at the 2nd G20 Trade & Investment Ministers Virtual Meeting held through Video-conferencing and organised by the Saudi Presidency on Thursday.
In his Interventions, the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal called for agreement to enable the use of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) flexibilities to ensure access to essential medicines, treatments and vaccines at affordable prices. Goyal also called upon the G-20 nations to agree to provide diagnostic and protective equipment, and healthcare professionals across borders where they are most needed.
The Minister said that widely regarded as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’, India is also proactively partnering in global efforts to develop vaccines and effective treatment for this disease. He said “We offer full support to any global engagements to further this cause. Staying true to our tradition of “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam”, i.e. the world is one big family, India has unconditionally provided medical supplies to over 120 countries to combat this disease, of which 43 countries received it as a grant. In addition, a USD 10 million COVID-19 Emergency Fund has been created and is being utilised to deliver urgent medical supplies, equipment and humanitarian assistance to our neighbours. We are also sharing our medical and public health expertise and capacity with them, using digital technologies.”
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Sharing a small example of India’s capabilities and commitment, Goyal said “When the pandemic broke out, India barely produced a few thousand pieces of Personal Protective Equipment. We had never needed PPEs in large numbers ever before. When we realised that countries were not able to supply enough for our needs, our domestic manufacturers created and ramped up capacities. So much so, that we now produce nearly 300,000 PPEs every day.”
Goyal asked the G20 members to first focus on immediate and concrete actions that can ease the distress being faced by people all over the world due to Corona pandemic. He said that the unprecedented situation calls for solidarity and a balanced, inclusive and calibrated response. An overriding priority for all countries at this time, is to save precious lives. He said doing away with the policy instrument of export restrictions is not a panacea that will guarantee access to medical products and food for all. “In fact, such a step is likely to lead to a flight of these critical products to the highest bidder, making them inaccessible to the resource-poor. More effective and lasting way to ensure food security of the most vulnerable, would be by agreeing to eliminate the historic asymmetries in the Agreement on Agriculture, and delivering on the long-standing Ministerial mandate to establish permanent, adequate and accessible disciplines on Public Stockholding for food security purposes by the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation,” he added.
Underscoring the wide digital divide between developed and developing countries, the Minister stressed on the urgent need to build the digital skills and capacities of developing countries and LDCs, rather than rushing to make binding rules on digital trade and e-commerce, which will freeze the extremely non-level playing field against their interests, and deprive them of the opportunity to benefit from the immense potential in these areas. He said that as a result of the pandemic, a large number of professionals, workers and students located overseas are facing difficulty in maintaining their visa status. Describing India as the shining example to have extended benefits to them, he said that We must allow suitable accommodation in their visa status and take other necessary steps to address their distress.[the_ad_placement id=”sidebar-feed”]
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