China grudgingly concedes India’s Covid vaccines are good

By SPS Pannu New Delhi, Jan 9 : As demand for the India-made Covid-19 vaccines gathers momentum in foreign countries, even China appears to have grudgingly accepted its South Asian neighbours domain expertise.
An article in the China Communist Party’s mouthpiece, Global Times, states: “Experts suggested that India’s vaccines are no less competitive than Chinese Covid-19 vaccines in both research and production capacity, considering that India has the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer and lower costs in labour and facilities.” The article quotes experts as saying that India’s plans to export the vaccine “could be good news for the global market given India’s competitive vaccine research and production capacity”.
But true to form the Global Times alludes to New Delhi as allegedly having a “political and economic motive” behind the move. The report sees New Delhi as using the India-made vaccine for political brand-building and countering the international influence of Chinese vaccines.
The report quotes Jiang Chunlai from Jilin University’s School of Life Sciences, who had visited Bharat Biotech, as saying: “Despite India’s reputation for generic drugs, the country is not behind China in vaccine R&D.” “India has the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India that has a very mature production and supply capacity, even stronger than some Western countries. Indian vaccine manufacturers also have a much earlier cooperation with global institutes including WHO, GAVI and the Pan American Health Organization in South America (PAHO), and earned their trust decades ago,” Jiang said.