Modi assures Brazil Prez of strengthening ties in healthcare sector

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured Brazilian President Jair M. Bolsonaro of strengthening India's cooperation with the South American nation in the healthcare sector.

The Prime Minister gave the assurance while replying to Bolsonaro's tweet in which he thanked Modi for dispatching two million doses of India made coronavirus vaccines to Brazil.

"The honour is ours, President @jairbolsonaro to be a trusted partner of Brazil in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic together. We will continue to strengthen our cooperation on healthcare," Modi tweeted.

Soon after the two million doses of India's Covishield vaccine arrived in Brazil, the Brazilian President tweeted: "Namaskar, Primeiro Ministro @narendramodi- O Brasil sente-se honrado em ter um grande parceiro para superar um obstAiculo global. Obrigado por nos auxiliar com as exportaAAues de vacinas da India para o Brasil.- Dhanyavaad! aaa-auaa, "which can be roughly translated in English as, "Namaskar, Prime Minister@narendramodi- Brazil is honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle. Thank you for helping us with vaccine exports from India to Brazil.- Dhanyavaad!"

Bolsonaro's tweet also had an image of Lord Hanuman carrying the coronavirus vaccine as 'Sanjeevani Booti' from India to Brazil.

India dispatched two million doses of Covishield vaccine to Brazil on Friday. Covishield has been developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

Meanwhile, 92 countries have approached India for Covid-19 vaccines, including Brazil, which currently accounts for the third highest coronavirus caseload in the world and the second largest death toll.

Earlier, Brazilian Ambassador Andre Aranha Correa do Lago thanked the SII for the vaccines and the "professionalism demonstrated" during the transportation.

Brazil's Health Ministry announced that the vaccine landed in Sao Paulo on Friday before being flown to Rio de Janeiro, where Brazil's state-run Fiocruz Institute is based.

Brazil has been in the grip of a second wave of infections since November, with more than 1,000 daily deaths and an overall toll of more than 214,000 deaths -- second only to the United States.