S Jaishankar has been on a two-nation visit to Greece and to Italy (File)
External Affairs minister S Jaishankar addressed the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting at Matera, Italy today, where he said international cooperation is the answer to the challenge posed by the Covid pandemic, be it in terms of vaccines, medicines, PPE kits or oxygen. The most immediate test for this, he said will be equitable access to vaccines.
"Institutional multilateralism has been found wanting. Reforms have many forms but vaccine equity will be the immediate test," Mr Jaishankar tweeted after the meet.
The European Union -- one of the members of the G-20 -- has been opposed to the proposal of India and South Africa to temporarily waive parts of the intellectual property rules under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), to enable large scale vaccine manufacture. Firms in several nations that have the capacity to manufacture approved vaccines are unable to do so because of licensing issues.
India has argued that a more relaxed system will lead to a bigger vaccine supply, which is the need of the hour. The demand has been echoed by multiple organisations across the world.
In a joint statement last month, India and EU said, "Recognising the role of extensive immunisation as a global public good and concurring that the vaccination process is not a race amongst countries but a race against time, we welcomed the EU's and its Member States' contribution to vaccines' production and their substantial support to the COVAX Facility, as well as India's efforts to produce and distribute COVID-19 vaccines to over 90 countries through its 'Vaccine Maitri'".
Mr Jaishankar has been on a two-nation visit to Greece and to Italy.
Arriving in Italy on Monday evening, he met the EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen. The discussion was on the challenge posed by Covid and Mr Jaishankar had underscored the importance of equitable vaccine access and a fair travel regime.
The G20 bloc brings together the world's major economies. The member countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
India is expected to preside over the G20 next year.