We have strong, dependent relationship with India when it comes to pharmaceuticals: US Health Secy

Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], August 18 : US Secretary for Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra on Friday said that India and US have a very strong and dependent relationship when it comes to pharmaceuticals. He stated that India and US depend on each other and both nations.
Speaking to reporters, Xavier Becerra said, "We have a very strong and dependent relationship with India when it comes to pharmaceuticals. We depend on India. India depends on us. And together we can both thrive when it comes to making sure medicines are available, not just to our people but to the world."
Xavier Becerra is on a visit to India to participate in the G20 Health Ministers’ meeting starting in Gujarat's Gandhinagar which started today. Speaking about the session he attended during the G20 Health Ministers Meeting, he said that they talked about how they can ensure coordination and collaboration when it comes to the safety and availability of pharmaceutical medicines. 
"In my session this morning, meeting with the health minister and his team, one of the subjects that we discussed was how we make sure that we're coordinating, collaborating when it comes to the safety and availability of pharmaceutical medicines," Xavier Becerra said. 
"And I think what we're going to find is that with that cooperation, we're going to have greater success in expanding the reach of those pharmaceutical products to more people. The very fact that the commissioner of our FDA (Food and Drug Administration) will be in India shortly, imminently, is testament to that relationship where our chief negotiator and regulator of pharmaceuticals in America is coming to India. It's another sign that this is a relationship that has to work," he added. 
He said that the US is interested in seeing India increase its capacity. He stated that the US wants to make sure India continues to be a good partner in the exchange of pharmaceuticals and the growth of pharmaceutical products. 
"So, for us, our standards are known and transparent and we are concerned with making sure that product that makes it into the US meets the standards. But we're also interested in seeing India increase its capacity, not just for the US's purposes, but generally. So the work that we're doing with India is two-fold," Xavier Becerra said. 
Becerra said that there is a growing desire in India to make sure that their industry continues to grow. He said that India wants to see 
"One, we want to make sure India continues to be a good partner in the exchange of pharmaceuticals and the growth of pharmaceutical products. That requires Indian companies to meet US standards if they wish to export to us. But at the same time, there is a growing desire in India and this is expressed by the health minister, to make sure that their industry continues to grow. And so one of the things that India would like to see from the US is deeper cooperation when it comes to having the, not just the capacities, but the regime, the standards that make it possible to have an industry that will thrive because it will be accepted everywhere in the world. And so, I think it, again, it's a testimony to the relationship that it's about not just improving standards, but about expanding capacities," he added. 
Becerra expressed gratitude to the government of India and the people of India for making his visit a "very fruitful" one. He stated that his visit to India is a clear sign of the deepening relationship between India and the US. He thanked India for extending invitation to come to the G20 meeting. 
"I can say deep thanks to not just the Minister of Health and the government of India, but to the people of India for making this a very fruitful visit. It is not an easy trip to make to come halfway around the world, but it was worth it. It has been a clear sign of the deepening relationship that the people of India and the people of America have. And it will pay dividends for both countries," Xavier Becerra said. 
"But quite honestly, it'll pay dividends for the world because I believe people see in India and in the US, two global leaders who understands what it means to be ready to be prepared to be able to prevent sickness from killing our loved ones, and to be ready to share in that knowledge and in that capacity to be able to care for your families and humanity," he added.
Expressing gratitude to Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya and the entire team of India for having a successful G20, he said, "To Minister Mandaviya and the entire team from India, we want to say thank you for giving us this opportunity and for having such a successful G20, where we are now moving forward and building quite honestly on what Prime Minister Modi and President Biden already had begun."
Asked about the US solution to the G20 outcome, he said, "Most importantly for us in G20 is to see progress so that when we gather as a world community, not just the G20 countries, but as a world community, we're ready to commit to a protocol on how we deal with preparation and response to future threats to the world, pandemic or otherwise. And so this is just a growing step and we applaud India on the success of this G20 in moving us closer to being able to come together for that accord."
Asked about the way to protest people if COVID-19 like pandemic again happens in the world, Xavier Becerra said that COVID-19 has taught the world that they cannot just do it for our own nation and our community but they have to do it for everyone. He said that India and US showed it to the world by coming up with the vaccines and provided them to hundreds of millions of people. 
"As I think everyone will now tell you, no one is safe in America until everyone is safe in the world. And India would say the same thing. And so perhaps the thing we learned best from COVID is we can't just do it for our own, our own families, our own communities. We have to do it for everyone. That means having capacity," Xavier Becerra said. 
"And that's where, again, the value that India brings to the table, as does the US is capacity to do a lot. Both countries showed that we could come up with a vaccine. Both countries proved that we could get that vaccine to hundreds of millions of people. And so what I think COVID has taught us is that we have to work together and we have to make sure that we don't exclude, because just because we come up with a vaccine doesn't mean we'll be safe if no one else gets it," he added. 
He called climate change a very important issue for the US and stressed that Mandaviya and PM Modi have made it clear that climate change is a very important issue to India.  
"Climate change is a very important issue to us in the United States and Health Minister Mandaviya and I think Prime Minister Modi have made it clear that climate change is a very important issue to India. And that's again crucial because to have global leaders that want to move an agenda means that others will come along and follow too. We can't solve the issue of climate change just in the US or just in India. And so that's why it's so important when you start to get the major centers of political gravity working together," he said.