India winning allies with vaccine diplomacy

By Aarti Tikoo Singh New Delhi, Feb 9 : As against China’s aggressive image, India is steadily reinforcing its soft power and core philosophical values of compassion and generosity with the help of vaccine diplomacy.
The government has so far gifted over 62 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines to its immediate and extended neighbourhood, out of the 170 lakh doses supplied to at least 20 countries across the world.
As per the Foreign Ministry’s official data exclusively accessed by IANS, the government, in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, has distributed over 62 lakh doses of locally made AstraZeneca PLC vaccine among Bangladesh (20), Myanmar (15), Nepal (10), Sri Lanka (5), Afghanistan (5), Bhutan (1.5) and others.
In the extended neighbourhood, India gifted the vaccine doses to Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bahrain, Oman, Barbados and Dominica.
About 60 per cent of global vaccine production comes from India, making it the largest producer of vaccines in the region. Apart from Covid-19 vaccines, India is the largest supplier of the DPT, BCG and Measles vaccines globally.
The WHO sources 70 per cent of its essential immunisation vaccines from India.