@prashanthamine
Slowly and steadily the foreign policy changes of the Biden administration, domestic political pressures and a corrupt system is making things difficult for New Delhi as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic rages on. It has got more to do with India’s vaccine diplomacy which is unnerving some in the West, China and big Pharma firms.
For the ordinary citizen it hardly matters why certain policy changes in the US of banning export of vaccine raw materials to India got to do with vaccine production, production of Remdesivir injections and other critical medical equipment needed to combat Covid-19.
Neither is the government doing precious little to redeem the situation as far as availability of quality Covid-19 drugs and equipment in abundance and at affordable prices.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO and owner of Serum Institute of India (SII) set off the alarm bells ringing pleading with the President of the US (POTUS), Joseph Biden to lift the embargo on raw materials out of the US. In a tweet he pleaded with POTUS urging him to lift the embargo if India and the US are to truly unite in beating this virus.
According to noted Strategic thinker Brahma Chellaney, Biden had invoked the 1950 Defense Production Act weeks ago to hoard essential raw materials for making vaccines. He further opined that both China and US-reliant supply chains carry risks.
It may be recalled that even the “so-called friendly” Donald Trump during his Presidency had gone to the extent of arm-twisting New Delhi into releasing extra quantities of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in April 2020 after he was given to be informed that the drug was a super life saver. India had then banned the export of HCQ for domestic use.
At the heart of the current round of arm-twisting by the China plaint administration at the Capitol Hill is India’s vaccine diplomacy. The export of affordable and effective vaccines especially to the Third World countries has severely hit the commercial interests of the US, its big Pharmaceutical companies and above all unnerved China as this act of India has hurt their world domination plans.
What has hurt their interests more is the Atmanirbhar Bharat policy, India is no longer dependent on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), face masks, testing kits, hand-sanitizers etc.
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It must be borne in mind here that in foreign policy and diplomacy, national interests are of paramount importance. Continuity in policy and bipartisan approach to it is the hallmark, irrespective of who or which administration is in power.
This external pressure is now causing domestic upheaval of sorts in India as shortages in vaccines, essential scheduled drugs like Remdesivir injections and Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) are now causing political stand-offs between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Central Government and non-BJP led State Governments.
Eyebrows will surely be raised now with leading Pharma companies producing Remdesivir have slashed the prices of their drug following the hue and cry raised. But what needs to be borne in mind is that it is a life-saving essential scheduled drug that is more effective in serious and extremely serious cases.
Matters are further made worse because of our innate nasty tendency to hoard essential and other commodities especially in times of natural or any other calamity, whether or not we may need it or not. Worst still is this inhuman tendency to exploit somebody’s personal misery for personal gain. A system that has gone unchecked for corruption unfortunately thrives on somebody’s personal misery, and there is no check on this moral, ethical and systemic corruption.
What nobody seems to be aware of, or is turning a blind eye to, or is simply playing on the public ignorance, is that there are laws, mechanisms and enforcement agencies that have wide sweeping powers to ensure that supplies of essential life-saving medicines and commodities are not hoarded and that their availability and prices are kept under control. The most unfortunate part of this avoidable stand-off between the Centre and non-BJP state governments is that it is hurting the common man.
The common man on the streets who is desperately running helter-skelter seeking urgent medical supplies for his dear and near-ones is unable to fathom as to how powerful politicians, those in power and the rich and mighty are able to get second doses of vaccine and treatment without any glitch. Neither is anyone able to figure out how there is no Covid threat felt in election rallies and religious gatherings, when he is supposed to follow strict Covid protocols for his own family functions.
The pandemic has exposed and continues to expose the fallacies in our systems of governance, our personal relations and how shallow we are when dealing with such crises that calls for burying our differences and united action. It has also exposed how callous we have been or still continue to be, when it comes to upgrading our health and other critical care infrastructure in times of peace. It has also exposed the way we tend to politicise such calamities irrespective of its gravity.
