KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) – India sent 1 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine to Nepal on Thursday, a gift that is likely to help repair tense ties between the two neighbors.
Nepalese health minister Hridayesh Tripathi said the AstraZeneca / Oxford University vaccine, manufactured under license by the Serum Institute of India, will be given to healthcare professionals and other frontline personnel within a week to 10 days.
Tripathi said Nepal would like to buy another 4 million doses and asked for help from the Indian government. There was no immediate response from Indian authorities at the airport when the vaccine arrived.
Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali flew to India last week to formally request the vaccine.
India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, began providing coronavirus vaccine to its neighbors this week, in an attempt to strike a balance between maintaining sufficient doses to inoculate its own people and helping developing countries without the capacity to produce their own. vaccine.
India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it sent 150,000 doses to Bhutan and 100,000 doses to the Maldives on Wednesday, and will send more to Bangladesh, Myanmar and Seychelles in the coming weeks.
Relations between India and Nepal were damaged by a territorial dispute that led to an exchange of energetic statements on both sides.
India has also accused the Communist government of Nepal of approaching another giant neighbor, China.