PM Modi says 'special friendship' helped bridge distance between India, Barbados

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on March 4, said the “special friendship” between New Delhi and Bridgetown has helped omit the geographical distances between the two nations. In a Twitter post, PM Modi thanked Barbados counterpart Mia Amor Mottley, who previously appreciated him for a “demonstration of generosity” by providing vaccines to the Caribbean island nation. In addendum, he also asserted that the country was “proud’ to expedite inoculation efforts in CARICOM states.

In a Twitter post earlier, Mottley lauded PM Modi highlighting that he, through his 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative, the Indian leader made possible "for more than 40K persons in Barbados and tens of thousands elsewhere", to receive their 1st dose of COVISHIELD, before he himself did. “A genuine demonstration of generosity, “ she wrote.

In January, Mottley had written a letter to PM Modi requesting him for the supply of vaccines to counter the threat of the pandemic in the island nation. In response, India supplied 100,000 doses of Serum Institute manufactured Covishield to Barbados. As a part of the global cooperation to counter the Covid-19 pandemic, India has supplied Coronavirus vaccines to a number of countries starting from neighbours - Nepal, Bhutan, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh among others. This global assistance comes simultaneously with the ongoing vaccination drives across the country.

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'Vaccine maitri' 

India provided over 229 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines to various countries out of which 64 lakh doses have been supplied as grant assistance and 165 lakh on a commercial basis, the External Affairs Ministry said on February 12. MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said consignments of coronavirus vaccine doses were supplies as gifts to Bangladesh (20 lakh), Myanmar (17 lakh), Nepal (10 lakh), Bhutan (1.5 lakh), the Maldives (1 lakh), Mauritius (1 lakh), Seychelles (50,000), Sri Lanka (5 lakh), Bahrain (1 lakh), Oman (1 lakh), Afghanistan (5 Lakhs), Barbados (1 Lakh) and Dominica (70,000).

He said countries which received vaccines on a commercial basis are Brazil (20 lakh), Morocco (60 lakh), Bangladesh (50 lakh), Myanmar (20 lakh), Egypt (50,000), Algeria (50,000), South Africa (10 lakh), Kuwait (2 lakh) and UAE (2 lakh).

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