India resumes helping others with Covid-19 aid to counter China; sends oxygen to Bangladesh, Indonesia

New Delhi is unlikely to start sending out ‘Made-in-India’ Covid-19 vaccines soon, but may continue to help other nations with oxygen, medicines

India has sent medical oxygen to Bangladesh and Indonesia, as it has restarted helping other nations to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak amid China’s bid to use Covid-19 aid as a tool to spread its tentacles in South and South-East Asia.

An “Oxygen Express” train with 200 MT liquid medical oxygen from India will cross over to Bangladesh on Sunday. An Indian Navy ship, INS Airavat, reached Indonesia, carrying 300 oxygen concentrators and 100 MT of liquid medical oxygen.

Both Bangladesh and Indonesia are at present witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases, triggering fear of looming oxygen crises, like the one experienced in many cities in India during the brutal second wave of the pandemic.

Though New Delhi is unlikely to lift restrictions on sending out Made-in-India Covid-19 vaccines to the foreign nations immediately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government apparently decided to gradually restart helping the countries in the South and South East Asian region with oxygen concentrators and liquid oxygen.

The Indian Army last month gifted Nepali Army medical aid worth over Rs 18.02 crore, including ventilators, ambulances, Intensive Care Unit beds, Personal Protective Equipment sets and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test kits to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world by March 2020, India provided medicines and medical equipment to over 150 countries in its neighbourhood and beyond, including Grants-in-Aid valued at around Rs 80 crore to 82 countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government also sent out 107.15 lakh doses of the Made-in-India Covid-19 vaccines to foreign nations as grant till April 16, in addition to the 357.92 lakh doses exported commercially and 198.628 lakh doses as contribution to the COVAX initiative of the World Health Organization, Gavi – The Vaccine Alliance and others to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines around the world.

New Delhi, however, had to pause sending out drugs, medical equipment and vaccines to foreign countries after the second Covid-19 wave hit India.

India itself received medical aid, including 17,018 ventilators, 46 oxygen plants, 885 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen, 23,116 oxygen concentrators and 25,124 oxygen cylinders, from governments and private sector entities in over 40 countries around the world over the past few weeks. Besides, it also received 1330105 doses of Faviparavir, 11,06,940 doses of Remdisivir and 51,024 doses of Tocilizumab drugs as foreign medical aid, in addition to 19,88,985 rapid diagnostic kits, 98,32,274 masks.

China, which has been keen to spread its tentacles in South Asia and South East Asia, stepped in to take advantage of the situation and augmented supply of medical aid and vaccines to Nepal, Sri Lanka and other nations in India’s neighbourhood as well as the Indian Ocean region.

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