India’s vaccine production capacity is one of the best assets around the world, UN Chief Antonio Guterres has said. He also praised India for providing COVID-19 doses to nations in the world to battle the disastrous worldwide health crisis.

Addressing mediapersons on Friday, the UN chief said, “I think that the production capacity of India is one of the best assets the world has today, and I hope the world understands that it must be fully used.”

“I would like to say how much we count on India. I mean, India has one of the most advanced pharmaceutical industries,” he added.

Earlier this week, India's Permanent Representative TS Tirumurti told the Security Council that his nation's vaccine-making capacity would be for "the benefit of the entire humanity".

Guterres described the development of India as a pharmaceutical powerhouse as "a very important element of democratisation of access to medicines all over the world". The UN chief said that the world body was in contact with Indian institutions regarding the vaccines produced by the country.

"In India, there is a production, a very high level of production, both of Indian-developed vaccines, and I think there is a perspective, very important perspective, of also others. "India played a very important role in the production of generics for use that was outside (the country)," he added.

Guterres reiterated his appeal "for licenses to be made available in order for companies around the world to be able to produce some of the vaccines that already exist".

(With inputs from IANS)