Enhanced India's soft power: Shashi Tharoor praises PM Modi again. This time for Covid-19 'vaccine diplomacy'
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor praised the Centre's decision to implement India's Vaccine Maitri initiative during the Covid-19 pandemic, aimed at sending vaccines to several countries.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has praised the Narendra Modi-led BJP government for its 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative, which facilitated the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to several countries during the pandemic. In an article for The Week, Tharoor highlighted how India leveraged its status as the world’s vaccine manufacturing hub, significantly enhancing its soft power on the global stage.
Tharoor said Centre's initiative strengthened India's global soft power and established the country as a responsible global leader.
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Launched in January 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vaccine Maitri saw India supplying domestically developed vaccines to developing nations. Tharoor noted that India also contributed to the Covax initiative, a global effort to ensure equitable vaccine distribution.
Shashi Tharoor said that India effectively used its vaccine production capacity, which further strengthened its position internationally. He stated that under the Vaccine Friendship initiative, India not only helped needy countries but also further strengthened its role on global platforms.
India prioritized assisting other countries by fulfilling its responsibility and provided vaccines to many countries, which made its image emerge as a responsible global leader.
"In doing so, India has reaffirmed its position as a global leader, shaping solutions within multilateral platforms. The richer nations, instead, spent their resources stocking up on vast quantities of vaccines for their own citizens, much of which had to be thrown away unused when they could have saved lives if distributed to poorer nations," Tharoor wrote in the article.
On the fifth anniversary of the lockdown, I pay tribute to and India's "vaccine diplomacy" in the midst of a global crisis:https://t.co/ACBnry3hVq
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor)India's vaccine effective on global stage
In addition, he said that the Vaccine Friendship program played an important role in balancing China's growing influence in South Asia and Africa. He further said that vaccine diplomacy has taken its soft power to new heights. However, during the second wave of Covid-19, India had to prioritize its domestic needs, but despite this, India's vaccine diplomacy remained influential and effective globally.
"It is true that the second wave of Covid-19 temporarily disrupted India’s vaccine exports, highlighting the challenges of balancing domestic needs with international commitments. Despite this, India’s vaccine diplomacy remains a significant chapter in its foreign policy, reflecting its ability to combine humanitarianism with strategic interests," Tharoor said.
"It considerably augmented India's soft power, projecting across the developing world that India could prioritise humanitarian aid, reinforcing its image as a benevolent and reliable partner on the global stage," he said.
"This initiative during the dark days of the Covid pandemic reinforced India's standing as a force for good in the world, reflecting its humanitarian spirit and adding to the allure of its soft power," he added.
In January 2021, when Covid was spreading rapidly, India gave its vaccines to many poor and developing countries. Apart from this, India also played an important role in sending vaccines around the world through the Covax initiative.
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