India’s vaccine diplomacy in Nepal

The coronavirus vaccine has emerged as a new currency for nations to showcase their soft power. India and China now have been competing for influence over neighbouring countries, like Nepal, through vaccine diplomacy. After India curtailed the exports of the vaccines as it faces a surge in coronavirus cases, China stepped in trying to fill the void by supplying additional vaccines to neighbouring countries to resume vaccination.

Nepal, which started its vaccination drives after getting donations from India, gave emergency approval to China’s Shinopharm vaccine. A donation of 800,000 doses of a Covid-19 vaccine from China arrived in Nepal on Monday. The spokesperson of the Health Ministry of Nepal said that the drive would resume once the population bracket is targeted.

Nepal started vaccination campaigns in January after getting one million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford manufactured by India’s Serum Institute. Nepal had bought an additional two million doses from the institute. The officials of Nepal halted the campaign citing the shortage of doses as half of the purchase has been delayed. Only half of the follow-up order has been delivered so far.

India, the largest vaccine manufacturing country, is leveraging its manufacturing abilities to bolster its image as the pharmacy of the world. This will also boost India’s stature as a vital healthcare provider. India has already rendered free coronavirus vaccines to some of its neighbours and several other countries. The ‘vaccine maitri’ initiative was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after it began its nationwide campaign in January.

India is using its capacity to present itself as an alternative to China’s geopolitical and economic dominance. For years, India has struggled to match the pace with Chinese investment in countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. China is building power, ports, and roads in these countries as a part of its Belt and Road initiative.

India’s vaccine diplomacy could play a vital role to mend its strained relations with neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh and counter China’s rising influence in these regions.

The relations between Nepal and India have reached an all-time low due to the border disputes from November last year. India-Nepal relations have soured badly in recent years. When India imposed an unofficial blockade along the border of Nepal citing its unhappiness with Nepal’s newly-released democratic Constitution of Nepal – it opened its door for its other neighbour, China, to reduce its dependence on India. In recent years, China has pumped in millions of dollars into several infrastructure and hydropower projects in the Himalayan nation. Similarly, New Delhi’s relation with Srilanka and Bangladesh has also strained and China has been a factor.

As neighbouring countries await the shipment of India’s coronavirus vaccine, India has curtailed the exports of vaccines to prioritise local demand as there is a sharp surge in coronavirus cases. India recorded over 60,000 daily cases, which is the highest in five months. As it was running out of doses for its own people, it curtailed the vaccine exports. This temporary halt in shipment could affect India’s effort of soft power gains.

As India suspended the vaccine export to neighbouring countries like Nepal, China is trying to fill the void by supplying additional vaccine doses. Both India and China have a target to vaccinate large swathes of their own population. China too has a target to vaccinate 40% of its population. So, there is pressure to manufacture more doses at home for both countries. If India’s deliveries are affected for a long, it will affect India’s image of vaccine-giving nations and it will also hurt Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort for soft power gains. India should ensure that there enough vaccines left for export while fighting its own battle if it doesn’t want to hurt its image and effort.

(The writer is an author of two books and op-ed contributor)