A. Harikumar
As Covid 19 pandemic ravages India spiking the death toll, some in the West cannot hide their glee. Covering up their own downsides, they have suddenly remembered their civilisational burden and started sermonizing India. Gone are their purported sophistication, etiquette and humanitarian values; the Karen in them has suddenly come out and started deriding a third world Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his failures in mitigating the pandemic. At the same time, the West is hoarding raw materials needed by Indian companies for vaccine manufacturing.
A leading UK daily The Guardian ran a vitriolic editorial named ‘Modi’s Mistakes:; A Pandemic That Is Out Of Control,’ the other day littering half truths and misinformation like the hospitals in India have ran out of beds and oxygen. But the daily is silent on the policy of exceptionalism of the West which refuses to share vaccine raw materials and formulations to the third world. Though it is true some hospitals are experiencing shortage of oxygen, the sweeping statement hinting all hospitals are having shortage is an overstatement. The unbridled exaggerations don’t stop there. The daily confabulates that the mortuaries are full and dead bodies are left at homes to decompose.
All that was written on a day when the death toll of Covid 19 in India, a country with around 1.4 billion people was 2624. In a country which is 13 times bigger than the UK, where the vast majority of the people burn dead bodies, only an unhinged mind can imagine shortage of space for cremation.
The editorial which appeared on April 23, criticised the slow pace of vaccination in India pointing out that six weeks ago (ie. March 9) not even one percent of the population was vaccinated. But why that particular date, instead of quoting latest figures? Even by March 10 India had vaccinated 2.26 crore people which is around two percent of the population. However, it is true that India could have increased the pace of vaccinations right from the beginning. As a media, The Guardian has every right to indulge in healthy criticism, but it is doubtful if any country would grant a media right to fudge data and sensationalise or selectively use it. Perhaps, the imperialist hubris doesn’t want to mention that India has vaccinated that many people.
Funny claims of Angela Merkel
At a meeting of the European Union in Brussels on April 21, German Chancellor Angela Merkel lamented that Europe only allowed India to become a major pharmaceutical producer in the world. One has to let one’s imagination run riot to claim that it was Europe’s magnanimity that made India the Pharmacy of the World. It is the large pool of the country’s scientists and engineers, the helpful policies of the government and the skills of Indian entrepreneurs that made the growth of Indian pharma industry possible. No Western company transferred formulations to India free of cost or invested in infrastructure in a huge way. If Europe failed to nurture their pharmaceutical industry, it is their fault. Europe doesn’t have the human resources to run industries. Merkel should better learn the English proverb ‘You can’t always get want you want,’ if there is no German equivalent..
US Exceptionalism
Meanwhile the attitude of the US to the request of India for lifting a ban on export of raw materials that Serum Institute of India (SII) needs to produce their covid vaccine Covishiled has been outrageous. Joe Biden administration’s response to SII has been “Our first obligation is to take care of the requirements of the American people,” a far cry from their claim to be sole leader of the global community and the custodian of human rights committed to the welfare of humanity. Biden who came to power swearing by democracy, pluralism and equal rights had no qualms in announcing his Americans First policy.
It was only a year ago when Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump prayed and protested before India to ease all regulations on the export of Hydroxychloroquine and reminded India that humanity is one family. But when it comes to covid vaccine production and supply, the US has made no secret of its exceptionalism. The declared policy of the US is to keep in reserve its vaccine supply for itself till their last man is vaccinated. The developed nations have made it clear that they won’t allow any waiver of intellectual property rights of vaccines as it would result in dilution of profit of their vaccine manufactures. So it is clear that the West won’t transfer vaccine formulation details to the third world to enable the humanity to tide over the crisis. The meaning is: for the West the worst pandemic is an opportunity for geo-political power play.
It is true that India could have planned vaccination drive better to take on the second wave of the pandemic which seems to have taken several states in the country unawares. The approach was initially laid back and people in several parts esp rural areas lacked awareness on the need to take vaccine. As they are realising it there is unnecessary panic too. However, one needs to bear in mind the scale in India, a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. Despite this the mortality rate in India is lower than many western countries including the US and the UK.
If the West is really interested, in helping India to control the pandemic, they can collaborate more meaningfully with Indian vaccine manufacturers including Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and others. They should lift the ban on raw materials required by Indian vaccine manufacturers. The Guardian which strongly advises Narendra Modi to drop ‘sectarian ideology’ to ensure unity to fight the pandemic could better ask President Biden to revoke his Americans First policy so that the world can jointly fight and defeat the pandemic. Shifting the goal post may be to the advantage of the West at present. But the pandemic could return a third or fourth time. Then the West will again need India’s manufacturing capabilities.