NEW DELHI – India has begun to donate millions of doses of vaccines to its South Asian neighbors, using its position as a vaccine manufacturing center to strengthen its ties in a region where China has exerted growing influence.
India announced this week that it is giving one million doses of vaccine to Nepal, 2 million to Bangladesh, 100,000 to Maldives and 150,000 to Bhutan. It is also planning to donate 50,000 doses to Myanmar and 1.5 million doses to Seychelles. as early as Friday, government officials said, and start commercial exports of the two vaccines that have received emergency approval and are already being mass produced in India.
As part of its attempts to offset China’s growing profile in Asia and elsewhere, India is trying to strengthen its ties with South Asia, Africa and Latin America, establishing itself as the main vaccine supplier, said Sreeram Chaulia , dean of the OP School of International Affairs at Jindal Global University in Sonipat, India.
“Through its Covid-19 vaccine diplomacy, India aims to leverage its strengths to increase soft power, especially in poorer nations,” he said. “There is a strategy to strengthen health systems in India’s immediate neighborhood, first with Chinese invasions and then expand them to the rest of the world.
India has been on the defensive in much of South Asia, while China has been issuing huge loans and using its experience in building infrastructure to strengthen ties in places traditionally within India’s sphere of influence, including Sri Lanka and Nepal, as well as with its biggest rival in the region, Pakistan.