Difficult to motivate scientists without intellectual property protection: German envoy to India

German Ambassador to India, Walter J Lindner on Monday explained his country's stand on the TRIPS waiver, a proposal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to temporarily waive global trade and intellectual property rules.

German Ambassador to India, Walter J Lindner on Monday explained his country's stand on the TRIPS waiver, a proposal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to temporarily waive global trade and intellectual property rules. More than 100 governments, including India, support the TRIPS waiver. However, a handful of high-income countries, like Germany, the UK and Switzerland, have stalled the proposal.

While speaking with ANI, ambassador Lindner said that if "you take away the intellectual property protection, it is difficult to motivate scientists to do their research." "That's why we are in favour of keeping a kind of incentive for the researcher. That's why the COVAX platform was formed," said ambassador Lindner on why Germany is not in favour of the TRIPS waiver.

Despite standing against the TRIPS proposal, the envoy said that Germany has favoured the global vaccine sharing COVAX platform and donated money to fund the initiative. "It is a platform where you put in money and countries like India produce (vaccine). Germany has put more than 2 billion Euros in the initiative. COVAX platform is there for countries who cannot afford the vaccination like Africa, Latin America, India and other places," he added.

Meanwhile, India has said it is ready to partner with interested countries for the transfer of technology and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines indigenously developed in the country. Earlier, both India and South Africa had proposed a TRIPS waiver for vaccine production. India has provided COVID-19 related support, including pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and vaccines, to more than 150 countries across the world over the last year. (ANI)

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