Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has written to the city’s six sister cities abroad seeking help and access to Covid-19 vaccines.
A sister city, or twin town, relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
There are 15 sister cities of Mumbai – Berlin, Los Angeles, St Petersburg, Stuttgart, Yokohama, Honolulu, New York, Zagreb, Barcelona, Busan, Port of Odesa, Jakarta, Nadi, Antananarivo and Shanghai.
In order to meet the vaccine equirement of 18 million doses, Chahal has written to the mayors of Yokohama in Japan, Busan in South Korea, Los Angeles and New York in the US, Stuttgart in Germany and St Petersburg in Russia.
The BMC in it's letter alo mentioned that it will pay for the vaccines in advance. The six letters written on May 25 stated, “Being a Sister City of Mumbai, may I humbly request your goodself to help and provide access to vaccine for Mumbai City. We are ready to pay the necessary charges well in advance. Please let us know the availability of the vaccine along with its cost and bank details for depositing the requisite amount of money, Mumbai as a Sister City will surely acknowledge your favour for the same.”