The present COVID-stricken world has been experiencing the devastating impact of this pandemic on human lives, livelihood, and economies with no confirmed end in sight. Quest for its curative vaccine has been developed in record speed. But their distribution has been lopsided creating the 'vaccine divide' and 'vaccine nationalism or hoarding' which is now at the forefront of
India and the European Union (EU) on Saturday announced their decision to resume negotiations for a balanced and comprehensive trade agreement after a gap of eight years and unveiled an ambitious connectivity partnership, during a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of 27 member nations of the bloc. In his remarks, Modi invited the EU to support a proposal by India and South Africa to waive patents on COVID-19 vaccines so that there can be equitable vaccine access for the entire world, officials said. However, there was no concrete decision on the matter from the EU side, according to EU officials.
May 08, 2021, 19:45 PM IST
New Delhi: The first-ever summit between India and 27 EU member nations began Saturday (May 8, 2021) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling EU leadership to support Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver at WTO for COVID-related treatments and vaccines.
Last week, the US had extended support for the wavier, which came in the backdrop of PM Modi and US President Joe Biden s talks. The wavier will help in the increasing the production of COVID-19 vaccines which in turn would help in easing the global situation.
This is the second time such format of the meet has been conducted. In March, US President Biden meet with EU member states.
But whether he believes such a step would have the desired effect of rapidly increasing the supply of vaccines in the developing world, Trudeau pointedly refused to say. We need to emphasize that these are multilateral discussions with a great number of countries who all have different perspectives, he said in French when asked if he supports the idea. Canada is at the table to help find a solution. We re not blocking any negotiations; we need to work in the right way to ensure that people around the world will be vaccinated.
In theory, a waiver to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS, would make it easier for developing countries to import the expertise, equipment and ingredients necessary to make their own vaccines.