Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar is set to meet US Trade Representative Katherine Tai in Washington as part of his ongoing visit. He may try to persuade her to support a temporary waiver of TRIPS norms at the WTO not just for Covid-19 vaccines but also for critical medicines and medical products.

Vaccine supply

The Minister, who is also scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, this week, may get the top officials to share more details on Washington’s proposed supply of vaccines and raw materials to India, said sources.

“The EAM’s meeting with the USTR has been confirmed. He is likely to discuss the TRIPS waiver issue with her as Washington is willing to participate in WTO negotiations for waiving IPs for vaccines. He may try to persuade her to support India and South Africa’s revised proposal, where they have reiterated the need for TRIPS waiver not just for vaccines but for all medical products, including medicines for the treatment and containment of Covid-19,” a source tracking the visit told BusinessLine .

The USTR, on May 5, had expressed Washington’s willingness to participate in text-based negotiations at the WTO for a temporary waiver on TRIPS norms on vaccines, but there was no mention of other medical products in her statement. India, South Africa and the 60 other co-sponsors of the proposal, however, maintained that the waiver should cover all medical products in their revised text submitted subsequently.

“Jaishankar and Tai may also discuss how soon the text-based negotiations for the waiver can start at the WTO and what are the possible ways to go about it. Both sides realise that the waiver won’t serve any purpose if it gets delayed beyond a point,” said another official. The issue of ongoing Section 301 hearing by the USTR on India’s digital services tax and the retaliatory action proposed by Washington may also be taken up.

The External Affairs Minister will also meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin this week and is expected to discuss a range of issues including supply of Covid-19 vaccines and vaccine raw materials to India.

“The US government has said that the vaccine exports will be made by July. It also said that vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna will also be exported. However, we have no idea how much will be exported to India and what types. Hopefully, there will be more clarity on the matter after the EAM’s meeting with the top US officials,” said the source.

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