Q: I congratulate you. After all, today is an important holiday for you. Could you tell us what is Indian Republic Day?
Ambassador: Today India celebrates Republic Day, and this is a national holiday, 71 years ago India became an independent, democratic country. We are a huge state with a population of one billion three hundred million people. On this day we have a parade in New Delhi, almost all weapons, by the way, are from your country, which also shows how strong the friendship between Russia and India is.
Q: What can you say, you mentioned this, about military cooperation between Russia and India? Is Russia an important partner for you?
Ambassador: Russia is a most important partner for us. More than 60-70% of our weapons are produced and supplied by Russia or produced in India with the support of Russia. Look at our Air Force - Sukhoi, MiG-29. Take a look at our fleet. Many of our frigates and aircraft carrier are made in your country.
We have a very long tradition of cooperation. It began almost 60 years ago and has survived to this day, despite all the changes that took place in the world. Friendship between Russia and India during and after the Soviet period is based on cooperation in the military sphere. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and our Defense Minister Rajnath Singh have excellent relations, our Defense Minister visited Moscow, last year he was an honored guest at the Victory Parade. And we are proud that our soldiers also marched along the cobblestones of Red Square.
We expect that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will visit India this year. Relations between our countries are very strong and will develop even stronger in the future for the benefit of India, Russia, regional and global stability.
Q: Our countries cooperate not only in defense, but also in medicine. You recently received the Sputnik V vaccine. How are you feeling now?
Ambassador: I got the Sputnik V vaccine last week. And I feel fine. Many of my Russian friends have also taken it. I am confident that collaboration on vaccination will help us defeat the pandemic. Russia and India have agreed to produce this vaccine in our country, at our production facilities. Post-registration tests of "Sputnik V" in India are going on. And we expect that in the near future, when Sputnik V is approved, we will be able to make these vaccines not only for ourselves, but also for export to other countries
Q: Now in India the final stage of testing the Sputnik V vaccine is underway. Will it be approved next week or later in your country?
Ambassador: It will take some time before the regulator approves the vaccine for use because trials are still ongoing. And as soon as they end, the Indian regulator will issue a permit. We expect this to happen within a few weeks. Once this happens, I am confident that the Sputnik V vaccine will be fully available.
Q: You talked with scientists, representatives of medical organizations. What did they tell you about the quality of the Sputnik V vaccine, about its effectiveness?
Ambassador: Sputnik V is a very good vaccine because it is based on proven technologies. Russian research centers have a good reputation not only in Russia and India, but all over the world. Many vaccines were produced in Russia. This is a very important historical indicator. The data on the Sputnik V vaccine are encouraging. Indian regulators are very encouraged by the information about the Russian vaccine.
Q: Do you think Sputnik V, AstraZeneca or a vaccine of your production will occupy most of your market?
Ambassador: India has huge production facilities. RDIF and Indian companies are going to produce over 300 million doses of the vaccine, a huge amount. India has already produced over 60 million doses of its own vaccine. Moreover, we are creating a vaccine not only for our own population.
One and a half million Indians have already been vaccinated, and this number is growing. India also helps countries in its region, friendly countries: Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Maldives in health care. Also Brazil, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and other countries have asked India to provide them with a vaccine, and we are doing this.
Part of our campaign is called “Vaccines Friendship” announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vaccine collaboration, not competition or nationalism, is the key. We hope that cooperation between Russia and India will contribute to global health security as we all fight the COVID-19 pandemic together.
India is a very large country with room for all approved and registered vaccines. We want to partner with all vaccine manufacturers in the world. Of course, Russia is one of them. We are working with RDIF on the Sputnik V vaccine, and I am sure that this will be useful not only for India and Russia, but for the whole world.
Q: At this difficult time of the pandemic, Russia exported medicines to India and, conversely, India to Russia.
Ambassador: We have excellent cooperation in this area. India has sent more than 80 tons of medicines and medical equipment to Russia, especially with regard to hydroxychloroquine. We also collaborated in the field of vaccines with the AstraZeneca company.
We are very pleased that we were one of the first to be contacted by RDIF, and we are pleased that this cooperation has been successful. Also, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the phone with President Vladimir Putin, and cooperation in the health sector was very high on the agenda. During the very busy period of the pandemic, the cooperation between India and Russia was a great example of our friendship.
Q: Very well. We wish you good luck and good health. And thank you for taking the time for us.
