India will export eight million coronavirus vaccine jabs by the end of October after ending its ban on sending doses abroad, a top foreign ministry official said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to resume exports at a meeting of leaders from the so-called Quad in Washington as India, Japan, Australia, and the US try to counter growing Chinese influence across the Asia-Pacific region, AFP reports.

Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters that most of the eight million doses of the Johnson and Johnson single-shot vaccine will be sent to Asia-Pacific countries.

“This would be ready by the end of October. This is an immediate delivery, from the Quad into the Indo-Pacific region,” Shringla told reporters.