The Union government will, later this month, take a batch of ambassadors and heads of international organisations based in Delhi on an excursion to Pune to visit institutions working on various aspects of COVID-19, especially the vaccine related research.
On Friday, the ministry of external affairs held a session with 180 heads of missions and international organisations to brief them about India's handling of the pandemic, the software development for vaccine delivery and international cooperation on the pandemic and research.
Apart from foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, heads of several scientific wings of the government, including Shekhar Mande, director general of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, K. VijayRaghavan, principal scientific adviser to the government of India, Renu Swarup, secretary, biotechnology, Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, science and technology, V.K. Paul, Niti Aayog member, Rajesh Bbushan, health secretary and Abhishek Singh of the department of electronics addressed the gathering.
Shringla said, "We are exploring the possibility of conducting phase III trials in a few of our partner countries. We are also looking forward to research collaboration in the field of vaccine development. Based on willingness, we may also go for joint production of vaccines in some countries. We have already conducted online training sessions for nearly 90 participants from eight neighbouring countries to develop capacity in clinical trials and clinical practices. Based on demand, we can conduct more such training courses."
He said the trip to Pune was being planned "to give a flavour of India’s robust and resilient progress in vaccine development and in the trial process."
Although the institutions haven't been mentioned, Pune is where the National Institute of Virology is. The Serum Institute of India is also involved in the production of vaccine candidates, including Covishield.