Big NHS clinical trial being launched in India for new COVID drugs: British envoy

By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India], June 6 : British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis on Monday said a big National Health Service (NHS) clinical trial is being launched in India for new drugs related to Covid.
"One thing we learned in the last three years is that healthcare does not stop at your border. I think healthcare will continue to be one of the areas in which you will see a need for greater, more mutual resilience. It is great that we are launching a big clinical trial in India which is an NHS clinical trial looking at new drugs in relation to COVID because what happens in India will have a big impact on the UK. We saw that, frankly, during the worst stages of COVID," Ellis said at an event.
The envoy remarked that India is valuable for the UK and there are wider benefits as well. Commenting further, Ellis said post-Covid situations are changing and the health consequences of it are quite different from what they were a year ago.
Interestingly, the envoy also mentioned Chinese President Xi Jinping and said, "I think Chinese behaviour or behaviour of Xi Jinping, administration or government in China is forcing all of us to think quite hard that it is not only about the economics but also the geopolitical side, which we cannot ignore. And I think every country is now thinking about that in a different way. Of course, the situation of India is different because of the border it has." The High Commissioner made these remarks at the Centre for Policy Research program.
He said that the next round of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement is going to take place next week and both Prime Ministers have asked the negotiators that it will be done by Diwali. "UK is now no longer in the European Union and this actually offers the opportunity to strengthen the UK-India relationship. I think in particular about trade where we are negotiating a free trade agreement. We will have the next round of that next week and the two Prime Ministers have told negotiators that it will be done by Diwali," Ellis said.
The British High Commissioner also mentioned that India's internationalization is one of the most significant long-term events which will happen to the world and it is irreversible.
He also highlighted that India's internationalization is present in every aspect, not just economics, and said, "You have just had a book written in Hindi, which has won the International Booker Prize. You can see it in lots of different areas. You can even see it, if I put it very crudely, in the British cabinet. The cabinet has several people of south Asian heritage sitting there. The Minister of Finance in the United Kingdom is Rishi Sunak. The same would not have been the case 15 or 20 years ago."
The envoy also said success or failure of Glasgow conference will depend on three countries including India.
Nearly 200 countries in Glasgow, Scotland, adopted an outcome document, known as the Glasgow Climate Pact. It calls on 197 countries to report their progress towards more climate ambition next year, at COP27, set to take place in Egypt. The outcome also firms up the global agreement to accelerate action on climate this decade.
"India's scale and size will have big global impacts. One of the interesting things about the Glasgow conference was that in the end, the success or failure of the world in dealing with climate change will depend on three countries including India," he added.
India and the UK concluded the third round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement in New Delhi covering ground on key areas. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his India visit expressed his support for more skilled visas for Indians stating that the UK is currently facing a shortage of experts in IT and programming sectors.
India and UK launched Free Trade Agreement negotiations in January this year. The two countries are also exploring the possibility of an interim agreement to provide quick gains for benefiting businesses on both sides.