Billboards thanking PM Modi for providing COVID-19 vaccines come up in Canada

New Delhi: Billboards have come up in the Greater Toronto area thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing COVID-19 vaccines to Canada.

The billboard read, "Thank You India and PM Narendra Modi for providing COVID vaccines to Canada. Long Live Canada-India Friendship." The billboard also mentions the Hindu Forum, Canada.

Canada received the first consignment of 500,000 AstraZeneca's "Made-in-India" CoviShield COVID-19 vaccines on March 4.

It is produced at the Pune-based Serum Institute of India. India will be sending a tranche of 1.5 million more doses to Canada.

Prime Minister Modi earlier this month spoke to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau and assured him that India will do its best to support Canada's COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Expressing his appreciation, the Canadian Prime Minister said that if the world managed to conquer COVID-19, "it would be significantly because of India's tremendous pharmaceutical capacity, and Prime Minister Modi's leadership in sharing this capacity with the world".

The Prime Minister thanked PM Trudeau for his sentiments.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India earlier this month said that "Dear Hon'ble PM @JustinTrudeau, I thank you for your warm words towards India and its vaccine industry. As we await regulatory approvals from Canada, I assure you, @SerumInstIndia will fly out #COVISHIELD to Canada in less than a month; I'm on it!"