Decisive push to 'Make in India' for Quad’s vaccine diplomacy
Amega vaccine initiative for global good announced at the quadrilateral summit India had with the US, Australia and Japan, humanised it a tad, as the group is actually a counterweight to China. The Quad decided to pool its technological, financial and logistical abilities to multiply India’s manufacturing capacity so as to produce 1 billion doses of Covid vaccines for the Indo-Pacific region by 2022-end. Given the flak leaders of the global north drew for their vaccine apartheid, some of the biggies sought to show they had their hearts in the right place. Last month, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had called them out for prioritising bilateral deals with manufacturers while pontificating on equitable access in the same breath. As of last month, Canada had pre-ordered 9 doses per citizen, the US 7.3 and the UK 5.7, though just two are required for each individual.
As for India, the Quad choosing it as the vaccine manufacturing hub was a no-brainer as it already is the pharmacy of the world. In fact, 20% of the world’s generic drugs and 62% of global vaccines have Made-in-India labels. During the early stages of the Covid crisis, India first shipped malaria pill hydroxychloroquine as a repurposed drug to over 100 nations after Donald Trump took a fancy to it. Later, New Delhi donated vaccines to over 60 countries, including neighbours. India has already given away an estimated three-fourths of its Covishield stock to the global south. On a different note, the government has learnt to manage greedy private players in the domestic sector who are delivering the jab, by capping its market price at Rs 250. Compare it with the Rs 1,450 cost per RT-PCR test to detect Covid gleefully agreed to by the private sector during the first Covid peak and the difference is stark.
By smoothly balancing both domestic and global demand, India is visibly wielding its soft power and bettering China’s outreach, which is what the Quad intends to enhance. When three major nations want to add to India’s success story, the scope for cooperation is immense. But for the initiative to take off, the US must first withdraw the protectionist export curbs on raw materials it has selfishly imposed.