Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: International community finally woke up as countries and corporations vowed to help India tackle the devastating second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, deadlier than the first ever was in 2020, with more than 300,000 infections daily making India the worst infected country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed his trusted lieutenants External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to oversee assistance from overseas, sources said. The two points men have since been marshaling and tapping forces across the world. And it has begun to bear fruit.
The US, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia have come forward to help India fight the pandemic. Washington has directed its nearest bases to air-lift oxygen generators, concentrators, Remdesivir anti-viral drugs, and raw materials for vaccine in the next 48 hours. The UAE is sending a huge shipment of oxygen concentrators and Saudi Arabia a large number of oxygen generators to India, promising more support, media reported on Monday.
On Sunday, Doval’s interaction with his US counterpart Jake Sullivan ensured that America starts sending assistance immediately.
Early this month, Jaishankar’s interaction with his US counterpart Anthony Blinken had opened up the possibility of America lifting an export ban and start sending raw material used in vaccine manufacturing to India. However, on Thursday last week, US State Department spokesman Ned Price had virtually ruled it out, invoking the “America First” policy of former President Donald Trump in this regard.
This triggered a firestorm in the Indian-American community which had worked hard for the victory of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020. They also invoked the “Indians for India” theme to marshal support for their country of origin. This pressure within the Democratic Party paved the way for a quick course correction in America’s India policy, at a time China is softening up and waiting to export its vaccines to New Delhi.
Realizing the faux pas and trying to control the damage, the Doval-Sullivan conversation also noted the “insensitivity” of the US State Department spokesperson’s earlier remarks on the supply of raw material. India’s social media was full of anti-US sentiments on this issue.
“The United States has identified sources of specific raw material urgently required for Indian manufacture of the Covishield vaccine that will immediately be made available for India,” said a statement issued by NSC spokesperson Emily Horne on Sullivan’s conversation with Doval.
The statement also said the US is working “around the clock to deploy available resources and supplies”.
US President Joe Biden tweeted: “Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need.” The US President attached the conversation between Doval and Sullivan to his tweet.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris also took to Twitter to reaffirm her country’s support for India to fight the pandemic.
US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi called the Biden Administration’s commitment to export raw materials needed for life-saving vaccines to India an “essential first step”.
Dr. Jaishankar has also been in touch with the European Union, particularly France, for seeking help with oxygen concentrators, Remdesivir, and raw materials for producing vaccines. Paris is expected to send aid soon.
The US has offered all support and shipments will be flying aid from its bases in the Indo-Pacific. The White House said on Sunday that America has identified supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that will immediately be made available for India. The US is also pursuing options to provide oxygen generation and related supplies on an urgent basis.
Besides, the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is funding a substantial expansion of manufacturing capability for BioE, the vaccine manufacturer in India, enabling it to ramp up to produce at least 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022.
“Additionally, the United States is deploying an expert team of public health advisors from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and USAID to work in close collaboration with the US Embassy, India’s health ministries, and India’s Epidemic Intelligence Service staff,” the WH said.
The USAID and the CDC will also “fast-track the mobilization of emergency resources available to India through the Global Fund”.
Google CEO Sunder Pichai and Microsoft chief Satya Nadela have also come forward to help the country of their origin. In a tweet, Pichai announced that Google will be providing Rs.135 crore in funding to the non-profit Give India and UNESCO to aid India’s fight against the deadly infection. In addition, he will provide Rs.5 crore over and above Google’s contribution.
Nadela tweeted that he was “heartbroken” by India’s Covid situation and assured all assistance his corporation could offer.
On Monday morning, India reported over 352,000 new infections of the disease, creating a new world record of the highest single-day rise in cases, taking the active cases tally to nearly 17 million. It was for the fourth straight day that India recorded more than 300,000 cases in a 24-hours’ span. The fatalities from the infection-related disease touched over 2,800 on the same day, pushing the death toll to about 193,000.