New Delhi: Highlighting India’s fight against the COVID pandemic, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said the government had denied accepting objectionable negotiation terms raised by the top vaccine manufacturers of the world for vaccine supply to the country.
Mandaviya on Friday launched the book titled “A Nation To Protect” authored by Priyam Gandhi Mody.
Speaking at the book launch, the Union Minister said, “We told them to do business here in India but on India’s terms and conditions. We clearly denied liability waiver and other objectionable terms in the contract. They also wanted sovereign guarantee waiver. PM Modi visited vaccine manufacturer companies, motivated scientists and manufacturers. We launched make in India vaccine in the country in nine months.”
Dr V K Paul, Member (Health) Niti Aayog said, “We always invited other vaccine manufacturers to join hands with us to develop and manufacture vaccines on our soil. We have always been conveying this. But their conditions were on liability waiver and sovereign immunity waiver that was not accepted by the government, and therefore the negotiations could never get floated. By that time we had our own generous supply of vaccines.”
“A Nation To Protect” is Priyam Gandhi Mody’s third book. She said the country fought well against the COVID pandemic.
The book highlights the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India’s fight against COVID-19 in the past two years.
Notably, Mansukh Mandaviya is another name that prominently features in Priyam’s book, especially with the role that he played as the Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister during the second wave of COVID-19 when India was grappling with supplies of essential medicines and Remedisvir.