Leaders of the United States, India, Australia, and Japan agreed to pool financing, manufacturing, and distribution capacity to send 1 billion Covid-19 vaccines across Asia by the end of next year, India’s foreign secretary announced on Friday.

In the virtual meeting, the leaders finalized a landmark initiative under which huge investments will be made in India to create additional production capacities to roll out a billion coronavirus vaccine doses by 2022 for exports to the Indo-Pacific region. The move is being seen as a significant step to counter China’s expanding vaccine diplomacy.
Also, the leaders of the four-nation Quad vowed to strive for an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion, sending an apparent message to China. In the meeting, the Quad leaders also decided to create three working groups in areas of vaccine, climate crisis, and critical and emerging technology.

In his opening remarks at the virtual summit, PM Modi said the four-nation Quad has come of age and its agenda covering areas like vaccines, climate change, and emerging technologies makes it a force for global good.
The prime minister further said that India’s formidable vaccine production capacity will be expanded with support from Japan, the US, and Australia to assist countries in the Indo-Pacific region and that Quad would now remain an important pillar of stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

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“We are united by our democratic values, and our commitment to a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Our agenda today – covering areas like vaccines, climate change, and emerging technologies – makes the Quad a force for global good,” he said.