Author: Himalaya Post

The government of Nepal has decided to approve ‘COVISHIELD’ Covid-19 vaccines produced by Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd for emergency use in Nepal. This is the first time that any Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for use in Nepal. A meeting of the officials of the Department of Drug Administration made the decision today. Earlier on Wednesday, the department had called producers to register their vaccines for emergency use in Nepal. COVISHIELD has already been approved for emergency use in India. “Now, with the approval of the vaccine, works will start regarding logistic issues of the vaccine,” the department’s spokesperson Santosh KC says, “Now, the government can move ahead with a government-to-government agreement or book the vaccines.” Earlier, the government had issued an ordinance to amend the Drugs Act to legally clear the decks for the import of the...

  The sixth meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Commission was co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal H.E. Mr. Pradeep Kumar Gyawali in New Delhi on 15 January 2021. The two delegations included Foreign Secretary of India, Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Foreign Secretary of Nepal, Mr. Bharat Raj Paudyal and other senior officials from both sides. The Joint Commission comprehensively reviewed all aspects of multifaceted cooperation between the two countries and explored ways to further strengthen the traditionally close and friendly ties.both sides discussed several areas of cooperation including in the areas of connectivity, economy and trade, power, oil and gas, water resources, political and security issues, border management, development partnership, tourism, culture, education and capacity building. The significant and concrete progress made since the last meeting of the Joint Commission in taking forward several bilateral initiatives was acknowledged. The close cooperation between the two sides in combating Covid-19 pandemic in the region was noted. Nepal congratulated India on the remarkable success in production of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines in India and requested for early provision of vaccines to Nepal. Noting the milestone achieved by the Motihari-Amlekhganj petroleum products pipeline, the two sides discussed the expansion of the pipeline to Chitwan and the establishment of a new pipeline on the eastern side connecting Siliguri to Jhapa in Nepal....