India on Thursday has handed over 20 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh and 10 lakh doses to Nepal under grant assistance.

The flight for Kathmandu took off at 6:40 am while the flight for Dhaka left at 8 am.

On Wednesday, India sent 150,000 doses of Covisheild vaccines to Bhutan and 100,000 doses to the Maldives.

"India had stood by Bangladesh during the (1971) Liberation War, and today, when the pandemic is rattling the world, India again came with gifts of vaccines," Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen was quoted saying in a PTI report as Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami handed him over the vaccines.

Doraiswami said as part of India's "Neighbourhood First" policy, his country accorded high priority to the India-Bangladesh relationship and the gift of 20 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine was in fact the biggest such dispatch by India to any of the neighbouring countries.

As part of its 'Neighbourhood First Policy', India had announced a vaccine rollout for Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, and Seychelles from Wednesday onwards.