
A day after India began the biggest coronavirus vaccine drive for locals, its neighbouring country, Nepal, has lauded the South Asian country asfrontrunner.
Kathmandu, on Sunday, claimed India's vaccine drive has given the Oli government "great hope"and Nepal'sForeign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has requested India's vaccine for Nepal locals now.
"Today as we wait for the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, India is one of the frontrunners. This has given us great hope. I take this opportunity to congratulate India and its innovative companies for success. Being next door, we believe we too will be availing these vaccines,"Gyawali said during an event ofIndian Council of World Affairs.
India, through a press release, has accepted the request."Nepal congratulated India on the remarkable success in the production of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines in India and requested for early provision of vaccines to Nepal," the release read.
As per a report by an Indian media house, Hindustan Times, the Indian government hasthey will be provided with these vaccines on priority saying the "requirements of Nepal would be in priority consideration after the roll-out of vaccines."
It also claimed that the Indian government will be announcingthe supply schedule of the vaccines in the coming week. This decision was, as per the report, conveyed toGyawali during his recent India visit.
This has come a day after Nepal approved emergency use of the Covishield vaccine,developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).