Caring for a Spiritual Neighbour. Made in India vaccines reach Mongolia

Days after India gifted vaccines to Mongolia, the country is keen to get more vaccines from New Delhi, this time commercially

The deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia has written to India's external affairs minister Dr. S Jaishankar requesting for 10 to 15 lakh India-made vaccines Covishield.

India had gifted 1.5 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine to Mongolia on February 21 that helped the country begin its vaccination drive.

Interestingly, the Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene was vaccinated using India-made vaccines. What makes Covishield is the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine produced by Pune-based Serum Institute of India much sought after is that it has got approval from the World Health Organization (WHO).
India and Mongolia share close ties and have seen a number of visits including the famous visit of Indian PM Modi in 2015. Mongolia, landlocked between China and Russia considers India as its spiritual and third neighbour.

New Delhi's outreach on COVID-19 vaccines has been much appreciated globally with India sending 568.06 lakh doses of vaccines to 56 countries and UN Health workers.

Not only Mongolia but countries in South Asia - Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and countries in Africa and Caricom region began their COVID-19 vaccination using India-made coronavirus vaccines.