Although China has sent more vaccines to Sri Lanka than India, Sri Lanka has not approved their use Photo:Retrieved from QQ.com
China is using vaccine diplomacy to expand its power, but it has apparently suffered a setback in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan cabinet earlier announced the purchase of 6 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. This follows the country’s purchase of 13.5 million doses of the Indian-made AZ vaccine and its order last month for another 7 million doses of Sputnik. The Russian and Indian vaccines alone are enough to supply 65% of Sri Lanka’s population (21 million), which means the country does not need to import China’s Koxin vaccine.
The Sri Lankan media “Economy Next” pointed out that this move by the authorities of the country is tantamount to shutting down the Chinese Kexin vaccine.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa went to the airport at the end of last month to receive a donation of Kexing vaccine from China. In fact, he also went to the airport in January to receive the same vaccine donated by India. China donated 600,000 doses of Coxin vaccine, more than the 500,000 doses donated by India. However, Sri Lanka has not approved the use of the Coxin vaccine.
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