India recognises importance of universal vaccination: Sitharaman at IMF

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday that India recognises the importance of universal vaccination in stemming the spread of the coronavirus and that the stark differences in vaccination coverage of low- income countries and advanced countries is of concern.

Sitharaman made the remarks while speaking at the Plenary Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) here.

"@FinMinIndia FM Smt. @nsitharaman conveyed that India recognises the importance of #universalvaccination in stemming the spread of the virus and that the stark differences in #vaccinationcoverage of low- income countries and advanced countries is of concern, the Finance Ministry tweeted.

She emphasised the importance of the multilateral approach to combat climate change and stressed that it is important to recognise the formidable challenges faced by developing countries in getting access to affordable financing and technology, the ministry said.

Her remarks on climate came ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, next month.

"FM Smt. @nsitharaman stated that the #IMF should provide necessary policy and capacity support to low-income countries for effective use of the #SpecialDrawingRights (#SDR) allotted recently, it said.

She further urged that the advanced economies which have large reserves of SDRs should help the needy countries by voluntarily deploying their SDR holdings, the ministry added.

Sitharaman is currently in the American capital to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

On the sidelines of these events, she has been meeting a host of top American CEOs with footprints in India and who have shown interest in seizing the investment opportunities in the country.