Maldives President congratulates PM Modi for 'landmark' COVID-19 vaccination campaign

On Sunday, January 17, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government for the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine campaign. Ibrahim took to his Twitter handle and hailed the 'landmark program to vaccinate India's population against COVID-19.'

India launches vaccine campaign

PM Modi launched the pan-India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing. He said that everyone had only one question in their minds and that is "when will the vaccine be available?" PM Modi said that the vaccine is now available and the world's largest vaccination rollout will begin in a few minutes.

Read: India And Maldives Sign Four MoUs During Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardha Shringla's Visit

"With self-confidence and self-reliance, we fought with the virus. The pledge that we will not let our confidence down in this battle is shown by every Indian," PM Modi said.

"Today when we take a look at the last year, we realise that we have learnt a lot as a person, a family and as a nation. Today, when we start our vaccination drive, I want to remember those days when everyone wanted to do something but were not able to find a way due to Coronavirus," he said.

The drugs regulatory body of India has currently approved two vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

Read: Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa Congratulates PM Modi For Vaccine Launch

During November, India and Maldives signed four Memoranda of Understanding. It also included one MoU on the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) with the Maldivian Foreign Affairs Minister Abdulla Shahid. According to reports, the MoU stated that India is an "undisputed first responder, the best of friends, an invaluable partner" of Maldives.

Maldivian Foreign Affairs Minister Abdulla Shahid said that the relationship between the two countries is built on common values and traditions. He added, "Ours is a relationship of people - built on shared values, shared culture and traditions... India is the undisputed first responder, the best of friends, an invaluable partner”. The MoUs were signed during a ceremony attended by Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardha Shringla and Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

Read: Kiara Advani & Sidharth Malhotra Arrive In Maldives, Share Pictures From Island

Also Read: Kiara Advani Shares Her Maldives Vacation Routine, Shares Stunning Pictures

(Image Credits: PTI)