Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday India is on the threshold of starting the largest vaccination programme in the world, a day after the country formally approved the emergency use of two vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

“The entire country is indebted to all scientists and technicians,” PM Modi said while addressing at the National Metrology Conclave via video conferencing.

PM Modi also dedicated the National Atomic Timescale, and Bhartiya Nirdeshak Dravya to the nation, and laid the foundation stone of the National Environmental Standards Laboratory. Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan was also present on the occasion.

Pitching the Make In India programme, PM Modi said, “We do not want to fill the world with Indian products, but we must win the hearts of every customer of Indian products in every corner of the world. We’ve to make sure that ‘Made In India’ needs to have global demand as well as acceptance.”

PM Modi also asked scientists of CSIR to discuss and converse with students of educational institutes in the entire country and share their experiences with the NextGen.

“CSIR scientists should interact with more and more students of the country, share their experiences of the coronavirus period and the work done in this research field with the new generation,” PM Modi said. This will help you in preparing a new generation of young scientists in the coming tomorrow, he added.