Bangladesh, Nepal & Sri Lanka have urged the Modi government to let commercial Covid vaccine shipments go through. Sri Lanka has reached out to China, Russia for vaccine doses.
While states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab & Uttarakhand have said they have no vaccine doses, BJP-ruled Gujarat & UP said they were expecting doses Friday night.
Daily vaccinations have dipped in Rajasthan from 5 lakh a fortnight ago to around 2 lakh now. Congress govt accuses Centre of not providing adequate supply of vaccines.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India cannot just expect raw materials for the vaccines from other countries and then not send them the final product.
As India’s vaccine trouble intensifies, doctors and patients’ kin alike have come to depend on a drug whose effectiveness remains unproven — the anti-viral injection remdesivir.
Between premature victory mood that allowed Kumbh & elections, and lack of urgency on vaccines, Modi govt has walked into its biggest crisis. The way out needs realism, humility and one ‘Ram baan’ weapon.
At current vaccination pace, India would’ve taken 2 years to cover the entire population. New vaccines can speed up that process, and provide other benefits too.
How Trump responds to the growing Russia-China alliance and their anti-American diatribes will require some strategising among the Indian foreign policy and national security mandarins.
Bangladesh is already reeling from low coal-fired power production & inability to import enough coal, gas. Now, Adani has cut supplies over unpaid dues. However, this could hurt Adani too.
Video call between two Army heads is their first interaction after political upheaval in Bangladesh forced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India in August.
While we talk much about our military, we don’t put our national wallet where our mouth is. Nobody is saying we should double our defence spending, but current declining trend must be reversed.
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