Modi assures Covid vaccine supply to Nepal

While speaking to his newly-appointed Nepal counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday assured Covid-19 vaccine supply to the Himalayan nation.

Taking to Twitter following the phone conversation, Modi said: "Spoke with Prime Minister @DeubaSherbdr to convey my congratulations and best wishes. We will work together to further enhance the wide-ranging cooperation between India and Nepal, including in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic."

Deuba on Sunday won the vote of trust in Parliament and will continue to serve as Prime Minister for another one and half years.

The Nepal Foreign Ministry said the two Prime Ministers "discussed further strengthening of bilateral relations" and Modi "assured early supply of Covid vaccines to Nepal".

On its part, India's External Affairs Ministry, said the two leaders discussed, in particular, ways to strengthen cooperation and coordination in the context of ongoing effort against the health crisis.

Nepal is awaiting a consignment of one million Covishield vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII) as Kathmandu had already made a downpayment in Feburary.

Following India's ban on vaccine supplies, the SII had stopped exporting the jabs.-IANS