Vaccine diplomacy. India to finance 50 per cent of 1 million doses of Biological E vaccines for Quad

India will finance 50 per cent of the first consignment of 1 million doses of Janssen vaccines produced by Hyderabad-based Biological E for the Quad Vaccine Initiative in October, sources have said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga, who met for the first in-person Quad Summit in Washington on Friday, in a statement said that the four Quad countries had collectively delivered nearly 79 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in the Indo-Pacific region till date and planned to expand manufacturing to deliver 1 billion doses more by the end of 2022.

Covid support

“The Quad leaders welcome Biological E’s production, including through our Quad investments, of at least one billion safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022,” the statement said. The Quad countries had pledged to donate more than 1.2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses globally earlier this year.

“Our four nations met for the first time after the 2004 Tsunami to help the Indo-Pacific region. Today, when the world is fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic, we have come here once again as Quad for the welfare of humanity,” Modi said at the Summit.

Also see: ‘Over 100 m doses to expire globally by year-end’

The leaders also welcomed India’s decision to resume exports of Covid-19 vaccines, including to COVAX, beginning in October 2021. “There was a lot of enthusiasm over the expected launch of Covid-19 vaccines by Biological E next month and India’s decision to finance half of the 1 million doses to be produced for the Quad in October,” the source said.

Japan will continue to help regional partners purchase vaccines through its $3.3 billion Covid-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan. “Australia will deliver $212 million in grant aid to purchase vaccines for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In addition, Australia will allocate $219 million to support last-mile vaccine rollouts and lead in coordinating the Quad’s last-mile delivery efforts in those regions,” the statement said.

Technology and cyber security

The Quad Leaders’ Summit was structured around four themes – Afghanistan and Regional Security; Covid-19 response; Tech and cyber security; and Climate. Modi was the lead speaker on the theme of tech and cyber security, and made suggestions on taking forward cooperation. A document on Quad Principles on critical and emerging technologies was adopted.

“Acknowledging the role of governments in fostering and enabling an environment for 5G diversification, we will work together to facilitate public-private cooperation and demonstrate in 2022 the scalability and cybersecurity of open, standards-based technology,” the statement said.

Also see: Quad to make region stronger, more prosperous: Scott Morrison

To develop technical standards, the countries agreed to establish sector-specific contact groups to promote an open, inclusive, private-sector-led, multi-stakeholder, and consensus-based approach. “We will also coordinate and cooperate in multilateral standardisation organisations such as the International Telecommunication Union,” they said.

Climate crisis

On tackling the climate crisis, the four members agreed to cooperate to establish responsible and resilient clean-energy supply chains, and strengthen the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and climate information systems. “Quad countries will work together for successful outcomes at the COP26 and G20 that uphold the level of climate ambition and innovation that this moment requires,” the statement said.

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