Ministerial conference was postponed in November due to Omicron variant emerging. India & South Africa had proposed intellectual property rights waiver for Covid vaccines in 2020.
New variant Omicron has put ‘spotlight’ back on the fact that there exists ‘discrimination between vaccinated and unvaccinated people’, India said at a WTO meet in Geneva.
When WTO delegates leave Geneva for their August break, they will be pausing their fractious debate over a proposal to waive intellectual-property protections for Covid vaccines until September.
India along with 61 co-sponsors submitted a revised proposal in May on TRIPS waiver for all WTO members regarding prevention, containment, and treatment of Covid.
US & China have backed the revised proposal by India and SA, but EU, Australia, Japan & others continue to oppose it and plan to prevent any formal negotiations on the matter.
Vaccine manufacturers China and Russia never came forward to share the formula with or waive IPR for other BRICS members. So much for the cooperation in the Covid fight.
Most Indian ministries do not have much expertise on international trade, so they oppose every proposal of reduction of tariff. We need lateral entry of experts.
Driving an electric vehicle for months, the Hyundai IONIQ5, BMW iX and now the Kia Carens Clavis electric, has convinced me of the viability of EVs for city and mid-range commutes.
With the US-India trade deal yet to get done, rupee depreciation may be helping to mitigate India’s loss of competitiveness. The other problem is extreme despondence among overseas equity investors.
Of the total package, $649 million will be utilised for additional hardware, software, and support services, and the remaining for Major Defence Equipment (MDE).
Don’t blame misfortune. This is colossal incompetence and insensitivity. So bad, heads would have rolled even in the old PSU-era Indian Airlines and Air India.
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