Indian external affairs secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla called his Dhaka tour as “very satisfactory” as he wrapped up his two-day long visit holding bilateral meetings with Bangladesh foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen with COVID-19 vaccine issue seemed to have largely featured the meeting.
“I have a very satisfactory visit, a very short visit,” Harsh Vardhan Shringla told newsmen emerging from the meeting with his counterpart at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
Shringla said India would make its potential COVID-19 vaccine available for Bangladesh on a priority basis once it was produced in partnership with its developer Oxford University, who seemed to be a major forerunner in the global race for developing the inoculation.
“When (COVID) vaccine is developed, friends, partners, and neighbors will get it without any saying . . . for us Bangladesh is always a priority,” Indian external affairs secretary commented.
He said India, which produces 60 percent of global vaccine, was now reached the stage of trying the vaccine with an objective to produce it on a massive scale.
Shringla said yesterday he summarized Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about various measures that India took to contain COVID-19 pandemic there.
But Shringla said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent him to Dhaka to carry forward the excellent India-Bangladesh relations even during the pandemic situation.
“Reason I came here is that our prime minister felt during COVID time there is not much contact, but the relationship (India-Bangladesh) must continue,” Shringla said.
He said, “We must continue to move forward towards our strong bilateral relations and I came primarily to look at that point”.
