Politics Over ‘Vaccine Maitra’

BY: RAMNEEK MANHAS PUBLISHED ON 23 MAY, 2021

The COVID-19 coronavirus disease was previously unknown before the outbreak began at Wuhan city of China in December 2019. The virus has now caused a pandemic around the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 165,158,285 people have been victimized and, 3,425,017 deaths have been reported around the globe.

India is also one of the worst affected countries, second after US. India has witnessing a massive spike in coronavirus cases. In recent days, around 26,289,290 people have fallen prey and 295,525 deaths have been reported so far.

After a year into the pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, the global effort to develop and distribute an effective vaccine produced several promising options.

India is also at the center of global efforts to produce Covid-19 vaccine and the country is playing a vital role in the development, manufacturing, and potential distribution of the vaccines. All institutes in India are also successfully making efforts to boost their production and distribution in an effectively manner.

Indian government had embarked its ambitious program – the “Vaccine Maitra” – to ship two Indian-made vaccines Covishield and Covaxin to the world as part of international obligations on January 20 with first batches consignment sent to Bhutan and the Maldives. According to data published by the Ministry of External Affairs (MoEA), nearly 6.6 crore doses have reached the total of 95 foreign countries under this initiative. Out of these, the Modi government has donated nearly 1.06 crore doses as grants to various low-income countries in the global south. Others have been shipped as part of commercial deals and the United Nation’s COVAX facility and GAVI alliance.

Apart from garnering praise from the international community, India’s vaccine diplomacy has been applauded by the global media. Yaroslav Trofimov and Bellman have written a piece in the WSJ with a headline that reads – ‘In Covid-19 Diplomacy, India Emerges as a Vaccine Superpower’. It highlighted that India is a pharmaceutical giant, manufacturing around 60 percent of global vaccines before the pandemic.

The New York Times stated in a report that India has an unmatched vaccine manufacturing power. The country is giving away millions of doses to neighbouring countries, friendly and estranged. The NYT reported that India is trying to counter China, which has made doling out shots a central plank of its foreign relations. Furthermore, the report added that the coronavirus vaccine, one of the world’s most in-demand commodities, has become a new currency for international diplomacy.

Due to the export of this life saving drug, controversy erupted within India as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress blame the Modi government for exporting 6.63 crore vaccines abroad instead of inoculating Indians.

On one side, the AAP leader and national spokesperson Raghav Chadha addressed a press conference stating “Once the entire Indian population has been successfully vaccinated, it is then that we should export it to other nations”. Congress, on the other side, is accusing the PM of focusing on “PR on people” using the tag #IndiaNeedsMoreVaccines on its official Twitter handle. ‘The priority of the Modi government is not the state but foreign nations’.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar slammed those questioning India’s export of Covid-19 vaccines, calling them “short-sighted” and “irresponsible and non-serious” people. In a stern retort to those who are questioning the government’s ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative, the minister speaking at an industry event said: “I would say the blame-game wallahs will have their attitude and their approach. As serious people, let’s look at it. Today, as foreign minister, I am pushing other countries, particularly some big countries, saying look please keep the raw materials flowing for vaccines to be made in India. Can I, on one hand, go around the world and tell people ‘guys keep your supply chains flowing towards me and I am asking you for raw material but I’m not going to give you the vaccine’?”

Amid the ongoing politics involving vaccines, BJP leader and spokesperson Sambit Patra while addressing a virtual press conference had lashed out at the AAP and the Congress leaders for building false narratives in regards to the vaccine supply.

“This misinformation is being spread that Indians were ignored and vaccines were sent abroad. In this global era, no country can exist as an island and there has to be cooperative globalisation,” he said. Sharing the details Patra said 1.07 crore vaccine doses sent abroad were India’s aid to different countries and noted that of those, 78.5 lakh were dispatched to seven neighbouring countries. “A safer neighborhood is good for India too,” he added. “More than two lakh doses were given to the UN peace-keeping force, in which over 6,600 Indian soldiers are deployed,” Patra said. “Sending over 5.50 crore vaccine doses abroad was the compulsion of the two Indian manufacturers as it was part of their commercial and licensing liabilities,” Patra said.

Amid surge to the ongoing pandemic, India is going through a brittle situation. In this period of unrest, India should unite to fight against and conquer the coronavirus. The opposition, who continues to play politics and malign the image of PM Modi, should instead clear their stands before the nation in this hour of crisis.

On one hand, the Modi government and the people of the country are united in fighting this pandemic; On the other hand, oppositional parties are trying to trick people by playing politics despite knowing the fact that any other government had to do the same, keeping in view its international obligations.