India to gift 2 lakh Covid vaccine to UN peacekeepers

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "extremely grateful" for the gift of 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses announced by India for peacekeepers, the spokesperson for the UN chief has said. Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN, Ambassador Bob Rae tweeted: This is an important and generous announcement by Indian government on vaccinating 95000 UN peacekeepers."Earliar. Speaking at the UNSC Open Debate on Implementation of Resolution 2532, Dr Jaishankar said 2 lakh doses will be given as a gift to UN Peacekeepers.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that Made in India COVID vaccines were supplied to 25 nations and 49 countries across the world will be added soon.  He delivered Bhagavat Gita's message - "Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind”. He also suggested the need for persisting with the vaccination drive, collaborating on genomic surveillance and exchange information, effectively addressing public resistance to vaccines and improving public health infrastructure and build capacity. Dr Jaishankar said  ‘Vaccine nationalism’ must stop and internationalism should be promoted. He also said disinformation campaigns must be stopped and proactively preparation must be done for the next global pandemic.India earlier provided critical medicines, diagnostic kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment to more than 150 countries, about 80 of them on a grant basis. India, the pharmacy of the world, is stepping forward to meet the global vaccines challenge, he said.

According to the UN Peacekeeping, currently a total of 94,484 personnel are serving in 12 peacekeeping operations across the world led by the Department of Peace Operations. A total of 121 nations are contributing uniformed personnel to the UN peacekeeping missions. India is traditionally among the largest troop contributing countries to peacekeeping missions.