BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS India continues to rebound from the shocks imposed by the novel COVID-19 pandemic, it is reassuring St. Kitts and Nevis that it would stand firm in its support.
This comes as the Federation continues to support India, and the Asian nation continues to wholeheartedly do the same for the Caribbean region in its time of need.
Now, India is celebrating its 73rd Republic Anniversary and it wants territories like St. Kitts and Nevis to grow with it.
India is described as one of the world's superpower nations, and it currently boast of administering more than one billion doses of COVID-19 Vaccines to its population. It is also the world’s largest pharmaceutical producing nation and leads in IT as well as software development.
Speaking at a reception ceremony in St. Kitts to recognise the anniversary, India’s High Commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana and St. Kitts-Nevis, Dr. KJ Srinivasa underscored the support it has already provided to the Federation, including in the fight against COVID-19, as a commitment to fostering the relationship between the two nations.
He pointed to scholarship opportunities being available, line of credit and the roll out of other projects.
Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris reminded that the two nations share a lot in common, but he used the occasion to underscore the assistance India provided to the Federation since the onset of the pandemic.
He described the donation of vaccines as “ India’s excellence, its compassion in its diplomacy and its sense of leadership”, after it became the first country to utilise its achievement in the development of pharmaceuticals to make scarce vaccines during the last year and a half available for development.
St. Kitts and Nevis received 15,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Vaccine, its first shipment of doses from any agency or bilateral relations. And Dr. Harris used the occasion to reiterate “commendation and gratitude to the Indian High Commissioner for leading the efforts to ensure that the Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine would come to St. Kitts and Nevis in February of last year,”
“At that time, it was quite clear that no country would get out of the shadow of COVID-19, that there could be no victory until we are able to get a significant percentage of our population vaccinated. You will be well pleased to know that St. Kitts and Nevis has been able to vaccinate 86.7 percent of its adult population with the first dose and, significantly, it was the result of the timely arrival of India’s generous donation of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccines,” Dr. Harris acknowledged.
India has provide US$300,000 to aid with the construction of the St. Peter’s Health Center, US$100,000 in medical supplies and more than 10,000 Hydroxychloroquine tablets.
The Government of India has already pledged to continue assisting the Federation in the fight against COVID-19.
