A week after the government refuted the World Health Organisation’s figures for deaths during the Covid pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a reform of the UN health body, and a review of its processes on vaccine approvals.
Speaking at the second global Covid summit co-hosted by the United States, which was addressed virtually by U.S. President Joseph Biden, and a number of other leaders including from the African Union, European Union, Canada, Germany, South Africa, Japan and South Korea, Mr. Modi also called for the World Trade Organisation to be more “flexible” on the issue of patent waivers, where a joint India-South Africa proposal made in 2020 has not yet been adopted.
The US and other hosts invited Taiwan to attend the conference, while China and Russia did not participate.
