After receiving supply of one million Covid-19 vaccine doses, Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli took to Twitter on Thursday to express gratitude to the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the aid at "this critical time".
"I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji as well as the Government and people of India for the generous grant of one million doses of COVID vaccine to Nepal at this critical time when India is rolling out vaccination for it's own people," he said on the micro-blogging platform.
Nepal and Bangladesh on Thursday received Covid-19 vaccines from India under grant assistance.
"Nepal receives Indian vaccines. Putting neighbours first, putting people first!," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Twitter. One million doses of Covishield -- the vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India -- were supplied to Nepal.
In a major announcement, India on Tuesday said it will send Covid-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from Wednesday and supplies to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius will commence after confirmation of necessary regulatory clearances.
India is one of the world's biggest drugmakers, and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring the coronavirus vaccines.
India has already rolled out a massive coronavirus vaccination drive under which two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are being administered to frontline health workers across the country.
While Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield is being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and the Covaxin is being produced by Bharat Biotech.
The MEA said it will be ensured that domestic manufacturers will have adequate stocks to meet domestic requirements while supplying abroad.
India had earlier supplied hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries to help them deal with the pandemic.
With PTI inputs
