Prime Minister's Office
Text of PM’s address at CoWIN Global Conclave 2021
Distinguished Ministers, Senior officers, Health professionals, And friends from all over the world,
Namaskar!
I am delighted that such a large number of experts from various countries have joined us for the CoWIN Global Conclave. At the outset, I convey my sincere condolences for all the lives lost to the pandemic, in all the countries. There is no parallel to such a pandemic in hundred years. Experience shows that no nation, however powerful that nation is, can solve a challenge like this in isolation. The biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is that for humanity and the human cause, we have to work together and move ahead together. We have to learn from each other and guide each other about our best practices. Right from the beginning of the pandemic, India has been committed to sharing all our experiences, expertise and resources with the global community in this battle. Despite all our constraints, we have tried to share as much as possible with the world. And, we remain eager to learn from global practices.
Friends,
Technology is integral to our fight against COVID-19. Luckily, software is one area in which there are no resource constraints. That's why we made our Covid tracking and tracing App open source as soon as it was technically feasible. With nearly 200 million users, this 'Aarogya Setu' app is a readily available package for developers. Having been used in India, you can be sure that it has been tested in the real world for speed and scale.
Friends,
Vaccination is the best hope for humanity to emerge successfully from the pandemic. And right from the beginning, we in India decided to adopt a completely digital approach while planning our vaccination strategy. In today's globalized world, if the post-pandemic world has to return to normalcy, such a digital approach is essential. Afterall, people must be able to prove that they have been vaccinated. Such proof must be safe, secure and trustworthy. People also must have a record of when and where and by whom they have been vaccinated. Given how precious each dose of the vaccines is, Governments are also concerned about making sure that each dose is tracked and wastage is minimized. All of this is not possible without an end-to-end digital approach.
Friends,
Indian civilization considers the whole world as one family. This pandemic has made many people realize the fundamental truth of this philosophy. That's why, our technology platform for Covid vaccination - the platform we call CoWin - is being prepared to be made open source. Soon, it will be available to any and all countries. Today's Conclave is the first step to introduce this platform to all of you. This is the platform through which India has administered 350 million doses of Covid vaccines. A few days ago, we vaccinated about 9 million people in one day. They do not need to carry around fragile pieces of paper to prove anything. It is all available in digital format. But best of all, the software can be customised to any country as per their local requirements. You will find out a lot more about the technical details in the Conclave today. I am sure you are keen to start. And, I do not want to keep you waiting. So, let me conclude by extending my best wishes to all of you for a very productive discussion today. Guided by the approach of 'One Earth, One Health', humanity will certainly overcome this pandemic.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.