Diplomacy is the art of managing relations in a sensitive and tactful way. Individuals practice diplomacy to establish relations and fit into society. Power-hungry politicians practice it to maintain relations with desired persons at a desired level. In the same manner, countries practice diplomacy to ensure support of other countries in times of need.
Three months ago, the coronavirus was ravaging through Europe with the emergence of the new UK variant. Meanwhile, both our vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, had been cleared for use, and the government had declared a so-called ‘victory against the virus’. With the largest vaccine manufacturing capacity in the world, India was termed the ‘world’s pharmacy’. Once the vaccines were out, the government was quick to use the opportunity to gain some goodwill points. ‘Vaccine Maitri’, or friendship through supply of vaccines, was launched. When the world was concerned with the idea of ‘vaccine nationalism’, or hoarding of vaccines for a country’s domestic use, India used its strength to supply vaccines to other countries, while also inoculating its own population in phases. Under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative, India sent 10.7 million doses as ‘gifts’ to neighbourhood countries like Bangladesh and Nepal and 41 other countries around the world. India also exported 35 million doses to many countries including the UK and Canada. Meanwhile, India has also been an active contributor to Covax, a WHO-led initiative to provide equitable access of vaccines to poorer countries. In total, India has supplied around 66 million doses of vaccines abroad. Praises came from all over the world. Various world leaders thanked India for its gesture. Even cricketer Chris Gayle posted a video thanking the Indian government for sending 50,000 doses to Jamaica. The world saw this in contrast to rich countries like the US and the UK, which had refrained from supplying any of its vaccines abroad. Therefore, in terms of the world’s blessings, we had plenty.
Then the tables turned. India’s devastating second wave came as a tsunami. We witnessed a sobering reality check on our healthcare capacity. While cases jumped to above 3 lakhs daily, total deaths crossed 2 lakhs. Oxygen, ventilators, hospitals, beds, PPE kits, Remdesivir, ambulances, vaccines, vaccination centres, even crematorium grounds - we ran out of everything! According to a newspaper, the world’s pharmacy became the world’s ICU. While the healthcare system was about to collapse, the government used one tool that is rarely ever used - foreign help.
This is where our diplomacy bore fruit. Various countries like the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia, Australia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore have responded to our call. Countries have already announced initial aid packages, and more are yet to come. The UK sent 140 ventilators and 495 oxygen generators, Singapore donated four large cryogenic oxygen tanks, Saudi Arabia sent 80 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen and Germany sent 23 mobile oxygen generation plants. Even the tiny nation of Bhutan has pledged to donate oxygen to its giant southern neighbour. Also our adversaries, Pakistan and China are willing to help us in whatever way they can. But the most important help came from the United States, which, after a lot of requests, released the flow of raw materials required by the Serum Institute of India for making the Covishield vaccines. Apart from that, the US also sent oxygen supplies, Covid testing kits, drugs like Remdesivir and PPE kits. Also CEOs of top American companies like Apple, MasterCard, Deloitte, Gilead and Amazon, etc. have come together to form a partnership with the US government to form a Global Task Force for Pandemic Response, focused on helping India overcome the crisis.
This positive response can be attributed, though not entirely, to the diplomacy that India practiced through its vaccine supplies. The world now felt obliged to help when a nation, which initially helped them overcome the virus, pleaded for aid. US President Joe Biden tweeted, “India was there for us, we will be there for them.”
Of course, the above mentioned aid is not enough. It can at the most just provide a breather for the time our oxygen supplies and vaccines are back in the market. One argument is that the government should not have been so generous while giving away vaccines through Vaccine Maitri and through exports in the early months of this year. Although exports and supplies abroad have been banned since mid April, if say those doses would have been used domestically, it could have made a huge impact, since 66 million is almost half of the number of doses that have already been administered in India. However, by doing that, India would have acted just like how rich countries have been acting now, by banning exports and letting other desperate countries suffer. Countries like the US have drawn a lot of flak recently due to their ‘vaccine nationalism’. Biden had recently invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA), which would restrict the exports of valuable equipment to countries that need them, even though the situation there has considerably improved. The US currently has about 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine (same as Covishield), which it is unlikely to use. Non-profit organizations like Oxfam and Amnesty International have blamed the US and some EU countries for overbooking vaccines from companies even before the vaccines were developed.
In this situation, India has done well to not follow their footsteps. When some affluent nations hoarded vaccines and did not release them until their own population was vaccinated first, we acted as a saviour to many countries by supplying them. Either we were being absurd or we just have big hearts. Maybe that is what it means to be an Indian.
- By LitSoc, FMS Delhi