U.S. President Joe Biden participates in a video summit with the leaders of Japan, India and Australia at the White House on March 12.
The leaders of the United States, Japan, Australia and India held a video summit on Friday (March 12) that focused, among other things, on the Chinese communist virus (coronavirus) vaccine. Faced with the growing threat of “vaccine diplomacy” from the Chinese Communist Party, the four countries agreed on a division of labor to finance, manufacture and distribute the vaccine, with plans to send 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Asia by the end of 2022.
According to Reuters, the four countries hope to expand global vaccination coverage to counter growing Chinese communist vaccine diplomacy in Southeast Asia and around the world. India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
Indian Foreign Minister Harsh Vardhan Shringla introduced the vaccine cooperation at a news conference in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on Friday after a video summit of the leaders of the four countries. He said such cooperation is “most urgent and valuable.”
“The four countries have agreed on a plan to share their financial resources, manufacturing capacity and capability and logistical advantages to ramp up production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine in the Indo-Pacific region,” Shengra said.
“We believe this will accelerate the post-Epidemic recovery process and allow families and businesses to put the COVID-19 crisis behind them.” He said.
The division of labor among the four countries is that India will use its production capacity to manufacture the U.S. vaccine, with funding from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (U.S. International Development Finance Corporation) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation). Australia will fund the training and provide logistical support for the distribution of the vaccine. The vaccines will go primarily to the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean countries.
However, the initiative could be hampered by U.S. restrictions on exports of key raw materials for India’s vaccine supply chain. The issue is a bilateral one with the United States and has been raised by India’s ambassador in Washington, said Shinghera.
“(The U.S. side) is considering this very important issue,” he said. He gave no further details.
The tie-up will not affect the production of vaccines for India’s 1.4 billion people, Shankara added.
In addition to vaccine cooperation, the four leaders discussed ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The growing provocative behavior of Communist China in the region has raised concerns among the countries.
“A free and open Indo-Pacific region is critical to the future of each and every one of us.” Biden said at Friday’s videoconference, “The United States is committed to working with you, our partners, and all of our allies in the region to achieve stability.”
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he hopes the four countries “will make a strong push toward achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
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