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A Red Cross worker sticks an EU flag sticker on a shipment of ventilators from Germany before it is loaded onto a cargo plane bound for New Delhi, India, at Helsinki airport in Finland on May 11. A total of 18 EU member states have pledged medical aid to India. Photo: AFP
Opinion
Rupakjyoti Borah
Rupakjyoti Borah

India’s coronavirus second wave a test of Quad commitment

  • The security grouping has deepened ties over the past year, and recently pledged cooperation to advance vaccine production and delivery
  • While the US, Japan and Australia have all stepped up to help India in its hour of need, non-Quad relationships remain important too
Rupakjyoti Borah
Rupakjyoti Borah
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The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the challenges faced by the health systems of many countries as they respond to this once-in-a-century event. India, for one, has been struck by a deadly second wave and countries across the world have come to its aid.
Of special interest has been the help received from the other Quad countries. The Quad – or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue grouping which comprises India, Australia, Japan and the United States – has seen tremendous progress in recent times, with the foreign ministers of the Quad countries meeting in Tokyo last year and their top leaders meeting virtually in March.

In response to India’s second wave, Japan has provided 300 oxygen concentrators and 300 ventilators, and will provide grant assistance of up to US$50 million (about 5.5 billion yen).

The US has committed supplies worth more than US$100 million. As of writing, it had delivered nearly 20,000 courses of remdesivir (125,000 vials), nearly 1,500 oxygen cylinders, almost 550 mobile oxygen concentrators, and one million rapid diagnostic tests, among other supplies.

Earlier this year, there was a lot of brouhaha in the Indian media over US reluctance to supply the raw materials for vaccines to be produced in India, though the Biden administration has now reversed its stance.

A health worker prepares a dose of the Covishield vaccine for use at a vaccination centre in Mumbai on May 26. The US in April removed impediments to the export of raw materials for vaccines. Photo: AFP

Australia, meanwhile, has so far committed 500 non-invasive ventilators, one million surgical masks, 500,000 P2 and N95 masks, 100,000 surgical gowns, 100,000 goggles, 100,000 pairs of gloves, and 20,000 face shields

One important takeaway from the virtual Quad summit in March was the “The Quad Vaccine Partnership”. The declaration issued during the summit notes that the Quad countries “will work together to strengthen and assist countries in the Indo-Pacific with vaccination, in close coordination with the existing relevant multilateral mechanisms”, such as the World Health Organization and the Covax Facility. They also pledged to deliver up to one billion vaccine doses throughout the Indo-Pacific by 2022.

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However, there are many challenges too. There is no institutional framework among the Quad countries to deal with vaccine supply issues. India is already the pharmaceutical capital of the world and earlier this year had been sending vaccines to other countries under the Vaccine Maitri (Friendship) programme.

Hence, the other Quad countries could leverage this advantage and work towards providing Indian-made vaccines to third countries in the future, once the second wave of the pandemic is brought under control in India.

(Clockwise from top left) US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison meet virtually on March 12 for their first Quad summit, in this photo taken at Suga’s official residence in Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg
But for now, in its hour of need, India’s Quad partners aren’t the only ones to have come to its aid. Emergency supplies from Germany, for example, arrived before the Japanese supplies. Japan is itself behind on its vaccination target, which is a worry especially with the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for July.

Countries like Singapore have also come out to help in a big way, with the government sending oxygen cylinders and the Red Cross organising a donation appeal. Russia has delivered emergency medical aid. Notably, India has also approved the Russian Sputnik V vaccine for use in the country after Covaxin and Covishield.

Why is India facing a vaccine crunch and can it ramp up production?

Even after emergency supplies have arrived, however, India still faces the logistical issue of how they will reach the different states.

The lesson here is that India cannot rely on Quad countries alone to meet its requirements on the coronavirus front. While strategic cooperation between Quad nations has been ramping up, this is not yet fully reflected in the Covid-19 fight.

However, a good beginning has been made as India fights its second wave. Hopefully this will deepen cooperation in the future between the Quad countries.

Dr Rupakjyoti Borah is a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies. The views expressed here are personal

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