India vaccine plan in mess, China's steps with Eid gift for Bangladesh

Hit big by the Covid tsunami and vaccine shortage, India has ceded valuable strategic space to China to step in with vaccines for Bangladesh, writes senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi: At 5:30 AM Bangladesh local time on Wednesday, a C-130J transport plane of the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) touched down on the tarmac at Dhaka airport, ferrying Sinopharm vaccines all the way from China—seen also as an Eid gift to the south Asian country.

This batch of China-made vaccines is part of a five-lakh doses gift to Bangladesh after the recent World Health Organization’s (WHO) clearance to Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use.

China’s stepping in is significant as the Covishield (AstraZeneca) vaccines originally meant to be procured from India has run into uncertainty in the backdrop of an explosion of Covid cases in India and acute vaccine shortage.

From the strategic point of view, both India and China have been trying to expand their respective influence in Dhaka.

Turnaround by Bangladesh?

With India unable to supply contracted vaccines to Bangladesh, China has vigorously stepped in.

In this entire episode, the turnaround by Bangladesh also seems apparent underlining the sway vaccines hold over strategy and external relations in these unprecedented times of medical emergency.

After receiving the planeload of Chinese vaccines on Wednesday, Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen had said at the vaccine handover ceremony: “We’re thankful to China. They've been very cooperative. We look forward to many more vaccine doses from China.”

Adding that China has become a great friend of Bangladesh over the past years, Momen said: “We look forward to having better days.”

This was even as Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming was standing next to Momen.

The Bangladesh foreign minister’s tone and tenor was in sharp contrast from two days ago.

Scathingly critical of ambassador Li’s statement that warned Bangladesh against joining the ‘Quad’ grouping, foreign minister Momen had then said Bangladesh was free to decide its own course of relations with any other country.

Urging foreign envoys in Dhaka to maintain decency and decorum while speaking in public, Momen had said: “We’re an independent and sovereign state. We decide our foreign policy.”

On Monday (May10, 2021), the ambassador Li had taken a stern position when asked of the possibility of Bangladesh joining the ‘Quad’ grouping. Li had said: “Obviously it will not be a good idea for Bangladesh to participate in this small club of four because it will substantially damage our bilateral relationship.”

The ‘Quad’ grouping comprises US, India, Japan and Australia and is seen as an alliance based on a common-anti China platform.

India’s Position

After beginning its nationwide vaccination drive on January 16, 2021, India has been able to cover only about 2.5 per cent of its population.

On Thursday, India recorded 3,62,727 new infections on Thursday even as the total number of cases rose to 2,37,03,665.

With daily deaths scaling the 4,000 mark, in total 2,58,317 Indians have lost their lives to the deadly pandemic.

Because of the acute scarcity of vaccines, many states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and national capital Delhi have decided to halt the vaccination of people in the 18-44 years age group that had begun on May 1, 2021.

The worrying part is that the Covid-19 virus is fast spreading to the rural swathes.

Besides vaccine scarcity, the sudden tsunami of cases has virtually overwhelmed the medical and health system.

Initially quite enthusiastic about aiding its smaller neighbours with Indian-made vaccines, the latest spell of immense misery in India due to the contagion has put China’s vaccine diplomacy on the overdrive.

Read: Delays hit India's second dose of vaccination