India and the U.S. are equipped to address a range of challenges for the benefit of the world and the clearest example of this can be seen in the partnership between the two countries to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior State Department official has said.
India has been an important partner for the U.S. since the early days of the pandemic when countries were desperate for factual information about the virus and searching for personal protective equipment and other medical supplies, a senior State Department official told reporters during a conference in Washington.
Together, the United States and India are equipped to address a range of challenges for the benefit of our countries, the Indo-Pacific region, and the world. Perhaps the clearest example of how the U.S.-India partnership has benefited the world is in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the official said.
At that time, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun engaged with India to come up with solutions to these problems.
Our collaborative approach on therapeutics is an excellent example of the positive global impact of the U.S.-India partnership, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
American company Gilead has granted voluntary non-exclusive licensing agreements to Indian pharmaceutical companies to produce a generic form of remdesivir.
As a result, this effective COVID-19 therapeutic will be made available at scale and at speed to 127 low and middle-income countries, the official said.
The U.S. and India are also working together to develop and produce vaccines to address the COVID-19 pandemic, the official said.
Looking forward to the next six months and beyond, we know that our continued close cooperation with India will be an important part of the global recovery from the pandemic, the official added.
Asserting that both the U.S. and India are stronger, safer, and more prosperous when they work together, the official welcomed India’s upcoming term in the UN Security Council.
We look forward to working together in that forum to address global challenges, the official said.
The U.S. and India have also joined forces through the G20 to support the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. The two countries are working together through this initiative to offer debt relief to help the world’s poorest countries recover from the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote best practices in debt transparency and sustainability, in contrast to ongoing Chinese efforts to hide its unsustainable debt diplomacy, the official said.
It’s not just COVID-19 that is a shared challenge for the world. The U.S., India, and countries all over the world are becoming increasingly aware of the negative effects of disinformation and other destabilising actions in the Indo-Pacific region and the world.
In this context, India’s role on the world stage and India’s work with the United States and other partners has become even more important. India’s important to the effort to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region because we view India as an emerging global power that shares our vision of an Indo-Pacific region that is peaceful, stable, and prosperous for all, the senior State Department official said.
In pursuit of that goal, we look to cooperate on developing and promoting trusted digital networks, developing global debt solutions that are fair and sustainable, and by developing reliable and trusted supply chains to ensure that countries are not vulnerable to economic coercion, said the official.