Venkaiah Naidu underlines need to deepen trade, investment ties between India, Austria in post-Covid world

An Austrian Parliamentary delegation led by Wolfgang Sobotka, President of the National Council of the Austrian Parliament, called upon the Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday and Naidu underlined the need to deepen trade and investment ties between India and Austria in the post-Covid world.

Welcoming the delegation, Naidu said that regular exchange of such high-level visits between both the countries will help to sustain the momentum in bilateral relations and also provide the required direction to the executive officials.

Naidu highlighted that both the countries share similar values and goals such as commitment to democracy, respect for rule of law, global peace and security. He also added that India has proven that democracy can flourish in developing nations with very large populations and immense diversity, as per the press release.

Speaking on the cultural interaction between the two countries, Naidu stressed that people-to-people contact needs to be further encouraged. He further underlined that a long-standing; vibrant deep interface across institutions, academia, political institutions and people of the two nations is a key pillar of the bilateral relationship.

Naidu also appreciated the signing of the MoU between ICCR and the University of Vienna for the creation of a Short-Term Chair on India Studies in May 2021 that should facilitate further exchange of information and interaction between the two countries.

While highlighting India's contribution to the world in fighting Covid-19, Naidu said that India has exported more than 166.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to more than 96 countries and two UN entities till March 9, 2022, under the initiative Vaccine Maitri. Naidu also said that India is partnering with QUAD member countries to enhance vaccine coverage and last-mile delivery of vaccines in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Naidu also stated that India possesses the capacity to produce more than 5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines per year. India manufactures eight Covid-19 vaccines among which four vaccines namely Covishield, Covaxin, Covovax and Janssen have Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of the World Health Organization (WHO) and another vaccine i.e. Corbevax whose application for EUL is under WHO's a consideration.

Naidu noted that about a billion digitally verifiable Covid-19 vaccination certificates have been generated through India's CoWin platform. He also mentioned that India has offered CoWin as an open-source digital public good and is in talks with the WHO for an MoU for Sharing of CoWin platform globally through WHO's C-TAP (COVD-19 Technology Access Pool) initiative.

Informing about India's capacity for the supply of medicines and medical equipment, Naidu stated that since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, India has provided medical assistance to more than 150 countries in the form of medicines and medical equipment. He also highlighted that India's domestic pharmaceutical industry had become the centre of global attention due to its production capacity for generics as well as high-end life-saving antibiotics.

While speaking on the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, Naidu said that India and Austria have always been reliable partners that were further underlined during the Covid-19 pandemic situation. He extended gratitude to the Government of Austria for the emergency supply of medical equipment from Austria during the second wave of Covid-19 in India.

While highlighting mutual recognition of Covid19 vaccine certificates, Naidu appreciated that Austria recognizes both Covishield and Covaxin-based Indian COVID-19 vaccination certificates. Reciprocally, under India's new international arrival guidelines, travellers with vaccination certificates issued by Austria can travel to India on the basis of their primary vaccination certificate without the need to undertake an RT-PCR test. He expressed that it would be in the interest of travellers from both countries if the recognition of vaccination certificates could be formalized through the signing of an MoU or exchange of diplomatic notes

He further stated that as of March 9, 2022, India has entered into mutual recognition of vaccination certificates with 31 countries and continues to do so.

Speaking on the Covid-19 Pandemic Situation in India and its Management, Naidu highlighted that more than 1.79 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the country till March 9, 2022. He also noted that approximately 82 per cent of the adult population (aged 18 years and above) has been fully vaccinated while more than 96 per cent has received the first dose. More than 20.6 million people have received precautionary doses (booster doses) as of March 8, 2022.

The delegation led by Wolfgang Sobotka appreciated the friendly relationships between the two countries and hoped that such a visit would further strengthen the existing bonds. Pramod Chandra Mody, Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha was also present on the occasion.

( With inputs from ANI )

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