NEW DELHI, Aug 19 - Bangladesh will be a priority country in getting COVID-19 vaccine that India is producing, said Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla after meeting his counterpart in Dhaka today.
Shringla said India is conducting stage III trials of the vaccine. �We are going to produce COVID-19 vaccine on a massive scale,� he said, adding, India produces 60 per cent of the world�s vaccine.
�When the vaccine is produced, it goes without saying that our closest neighbours, friends, partners and other countries will be part of that,� he assured.
A Chinese medical team is currently working in Bangladesh helping it fight COVID-19 and has sought permission of Dhaka to start trial vaccination in the country. The proposal has been put on hold after India expressed its reservations.
On Tuesday, Shringla called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sources said the meeting was successful and Dhaka expressed its appreciation at the gesture in sending someone to touch base, convey message and see how the two sides could take their relationship forward.
Hasina expressed her gratefulness over the supply of locomotives by India. During the meeting several other issues where also discussed.
The issues were mutual partnership, enhancing connectivity, revival of economy post Covid, cooperation on Covid assistance, joint commemoration of Mujib Barsho, etc., sources said.
A proposal on travel bubble for business, official and medical travel was also discussed in the meeting as were the security related issues of mutual interest.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister spoke about the Rohingya issue and their possible safe repatriation to Myanmar, sources said.
India has been walking the tightrope with Dhaka ever since the Hasina government expressed its disapproval and dismay over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the NRC (National Register of Citizens) exercise in Assam.
Sources said the visiting Foreign Secretary explained Delhi�s position to Hasina that under the CAA, India proposes to offer citizenship to Hindus of Bangladesh along with those of Pakistan and Afghanistan, who have been forced to flee their respective countries due to religious persecution.
