A health worker receives a vaccination in Mumbai, India, Jan. 19, 2021.
The Wuhan pneumonia Epidemic continues to spread around the world, and many countries have begun vaccination campaigns. According to foreign media, the Chinese Communist Party seems to be half a beat behind in this vaccine diplomacy war, as its rival India has already promoted vaccine diplomacy in important areas of the Communist Party’s Belt and Road, moving even faster and with greater force than Beijing.
According to a report by Deutsche Welle, the Chinese Communist Party recently pledged to provide hundreds of thousands of doses of Wuhan pneumonia vaccine to Pakistan, Nepal and several Southeast Asian countries on a pro bono basis. At the same Time, India has already donated vaccines to Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh, far exceeding the amount provided by the Chinese government. It is understood that India’s move has already won praise in these regions.
According to an analysis by Deutsche Welle, many of the countries where India has been the first to engage in vaccine diplomacy are important regions for the Communist Party’s Belt and Road policy, and Beijing has invested a lot of money in building infrastructure in these countries over the years. Experts point out that these countries are strongly dependent on tourism and have a very urgent need for vaccines, and this Indian approach undoubtedly poses a serious challenge to the Chinese Communist Party’s dominant position in the region.
According to the report, India is also planning to provide 12 to 20 million doses of Wuhan pneumonia vaccine to neighboring countries in the next three to four weeks, and is even assisting some of them to train medical personnel and manage the vaccine administration process.
According to Reuters, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar tweeted that India has fulfilled its commitment to provide vaccines to people. India has been supplying to neighboring countries since Jan. 20.
Nepal’s Health and Population Minister Hridayesh Tripathi said Indian authorities have shown goodwill by giving away the Wuhan pneumonia vaccine.
Relations between India and Nepal are strained because of territorial disputes, the report said. In addition, India is concerned that the Chinese Communist Party is expanding its political and economic influence in Nepal.
The Chinese government has promised Nepal to help with the country’s Wuhan pneumonia outbreak and is awaiting approval from the Nepalese government to authorize the use of the Sinopharm vaccine.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Jan. 21 that China had agreed to provide 500,000 doses of Wuhan pneumonia vaccine produced by China National Pharmaceutical Corporation (CNPC) free of charge to the Pakistani side on Jan. 31.
The Chinese Communist Party has sent millions of doses of Wuhan pneumonia vaccine produced by China’s Kexing Biological Corporation and Sinopharm to the rest of the world, but the vaccine appears to be less than satisfactory.
Reuters reports that India has been trying to keep up with Chinese investments in countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives for years. Indian diplomats say these countries are eager to revive their tourism-dependent economies, so their demand for the Wuhan pneumonia vaccine has given the Modi government a way to “regain lost ground.
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