The US aid to India is long overdue
Under the strong pressure of international public opinion, President Biden personally stated that the United States would provide assistance to India. According to reports, 300 oxygen generators were installed in the United States on a plane sent by India last Sunday and delivered to India on Monday. This is in sharp contrast to the negative attitude of the United States towards assisting India until last week.
At the same time, the United States’ allies Britain, France, Germany, etc. also announced their assistance to India on Sunday, which gives the impression that Washington has made some kind of coordination with them.
Many Indians complain that the US aid is still too late. In addition, the US aid is obviously more gesture-based. Hundreds of oxygen generators are like a drop in the bucket for India. What India needs now is tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. Sullivan, the National Security Affairs Assistant to the President of the United States, said that India will immediately provide India with the key raw materials needed for vaccine production, but the United States will export those raw materials to India in large quantities, but will still have reservations and the implementation process will face tests.
Biden’s poll satisfaction rate for 100 days in office is only 52%, ranking third among US presidents since 1945, which is relatively low, only higher than Trump and Ford. He is facing tremendous pressure from the Republican Party and some Democrats. “America First” has been deeply imprinted in the values of that country, and it is a red line he doesn’t dare to touch.
Today’s strategic self-proprietary strategy of the United States has contributed to two major reasons. One is that this is the nature of the American system, which tends to amplify individual selfishness rather than collective restraint and balance against such selfishness. Second, the strength of the United States is relatively weak, and it cannot keep up with its need to play a “leadership role.” India is a very populous country, and the United States wants to “lead” India. In the long run, it will consume much more resources than it needs to lead other single allies.
One of the unhealthy aspects of the global fight against the epidemic this time is that science and humanitarian logic have not been able to truly dominate it internationally, and geopolitical logic has never
Stay away from this struggle, interfere with it from time to time, and even dominate it at certain moments. The epidemic in India is so critical, but the geopolitical clues in the information surrounding it still have a sense of existence, which cannot but make people regret.
COVID-19 patients are dying in batches, but some people are still debating which country India should receive assistance and what this means for future international relations.
In any case, we hope that the epidemic in India can be suppressed as soon as possible. Mankind is indeed a community with a shared future on the issue of fighting the epidemic. As a major country, the spread of its epidemic inevitably means that other countries will increase the risk. How India can pay less for its lives and make a soft landing is of reference significance for the vast number of developing countries.
The mutant virus emerging in India seems to have a strong ability to spread wildly in the midsummer, and it is worthy of high alert for other countries. The epidemic tsunami in India tells us that the fight against the new crown epidemic is a long “world war”. It is very likely that there will be many unexpected new battlefields and new battles waiting for us in the front, so we must not be careless.
Countries with strong anti-epidemic capabilities must shoulder greater responsibilities, and it is vital that the United States joins this ranks. The United States has hardly made a positive contribution to the global fight against the epidemic before. This assistance to India can be called the first campaign for the United States to play such a role. We hope this is a turning point for Washington. It has seriously dragged down the global fight against the epidemic before. Actively making some remedies should become its self-consciousness in the future.
Since last year, the new crown epidemic has hit countries like never before, causing incredible deaths and economic losses. Some countries still follow traditional thinking in their national security construction. This is at least a strategic dislocation. It must be said that the United States has played a very misleading role in this regard. In other words, if the United States is drunk, many countries may find it difficult to “awake alone.”
The epidemic in India is still breaking records! Data from the Ministry of Health of the country on the 26th showed that in the past 24 hours, there were 352991 new confirmed cases in India, rewriting the global single-day record of new cases for the fifth consecutive day. The daily increase of 2,812 deaths also created a new high in the country’s single-day deaths. However, the “India Express” quoted an internal government assessment that this wave of epidemic tsunami will not reach its peak until mid-May, when there will be about 500,000 new cases every day. Under the strong pressure of various criticisms, the Biden administration finally changed its indifference on the 25th and began to provide assistance to India. However, the sharp-eyed media quickly discovered that the United States had “partially” lifted the export ban on India’s vaccine raw materials and did not mention the direct provision of vaccines. U.S. “Herald Tribune” Self
Rethinking that since the Second World War, this country has spiraled downward in selfishness out of control.
“The Biden administration can do more”
At noon on the 26th, 318 oxygen concentrators and other medical and epidemic prevention materials provided by the United States arrived in India. This is the first batch of aid delivered after Biden promised to help India. “We are determined to provide help when India needs help, just as India provided assistance to the United States when our hospitals were strained at the beginning of the pandemic.” Biden’s tweet on the 25th seemed to express dissatisfaction with Indian netizens. Response. Earlier, someone in India asked the United States “Remember hydrochloroquine? When the United States made a demand, India extended a helping hand to the United States, although the Indian people did not have enough.” The “Indian” American Vice President Harris, who was criticized by Indian netizens, also tweeted, expressing support for India’s fight against the epidemic.
Indian television commented that after India experienced a fatal outbreak, Biden and Harris’ tweets were the first time the top US leader responded to this. They have been criticized for being too slow in providing help as “natural allies.” Regarding the change of tone of US officials and taking turns to express their support for India’s fight against the epidemic, Reuters called this a “crisis public relations” under pressure.
The White House and the US Department of Defense said on the 25th that the United States will provide materials and support to India, including ventilators, personal protective equipment, rapid diagnostic test kits, therapeutic drugs and vaccine raw materials. Previously, the Indian media reported that if the United States does not provide 37 key raw materials, India’s new crown vaccine production line will stop production within a few weeks. The White House did not specify how many raw materials will be provided to India. CNN stated that the White House was “partially” lifting the export ban, determining the specific raw materials required for India’s domestic vaccine Covishield, and then providing it to India.
On the 26th, major Indian media reported the news of US aid. However, some world media soon discovered that the statements of various officials in the Biden administration did not mention the possibility of direct delivery of vaccines to India. According to CNN, there are tens of millions of AstraZeneca vaccines in the United States. Since the vaccine has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it has not been used except for the millions sent to Canada and Mexico. The Guardian reported that when asked about this, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, only said on the 25th that the United States was “actively considering it.”
The New York Times commented that when Biden took office, he vowed to restore the United States’ leadership in the global health field, but he also faced the “America First” sequelae left by his predecessor. Regarding the term “leadership”, the “Washington Post” relentlessly revealed that in a speech last week on the vaccination situation in the United States, Biden said that he hoped to help the world, but did not make a specific commitment.
“The Biden administration can do more.” India
Connor, vice chairman of the Democratic Party of the Indian Caucus of the American Congress, welcomed Biden’s aid decision and called on the US government to urge pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Modena to provide India with a six-month exemption for vaccine intellectual property rights. According to the Washington Post, in India, only 1.4% of the population has completed vaccination, but Americans are enjoying a spring of adequate vaccines-a quarter of people have completed vaccination.
“This is outrageous in terms of ethics, morality, and science.” WHO epidemiologist Van Kelkhover said of the global vaccine inequity. “We are sitting on the gunpowder keg.” . According to the Washington Post, many developing countries believe that the United States and other wealthy Western countries can rapidly increase global vaccine supply by suspending the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies. However, the British Financial Times reported on the 26th that the US pharmaceutical industry warned White House officials that exempting intellectual property rights may hand over new technologies such as messenger RNA to China and Russia. Right now, this lobbying activity has escalated in Washington.
China’s first batch of aid has arrived
On the 26th, a piece of news about the epidemic in India topped the Weibo hot search list. According to “India Today”, a man in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, threw his 58-year-old mother who tested positive for the new crown virus outside his sister’s house on the 25th and fled because he was worried about being infected. However, the daughter also refused to let her mother into the house and let her lie on the side of the road. Later, the police sent the mother to the hospital, but she died in the end.
While the raging epidemic is torturing human nature, it is also testing India’s public medical and health system. The electronic display outside the Delhi Rosia Hospital wrote on the 26th: The number of oxygen beds (available) is 0, and the number of ICU beds is 0. According to Reuters, in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the northwest and Gujarat, there are only 7 ICU beds in 166 designated private hospitals. In many cities in India, after oxygen and beds are exhausted, overcrowded hospitals shut out patients.
According to the Guardian, in Delhi, hospitals have been suffering from severe oxygen shortages, and sometimes the oxygen supply is exhausted in less than 30 minutes. On the other hand, people with conditions panic hoarding oxygen and important drugs at home. The black market selling oxygen and remdesivir is quite prosperous. Last weekend, three men were arrested for trying to sell remdesivir injections at a price of 40,000 rupees (about 3473 yuan) each.
On the same day that the United States changed its attitude, Britain, France, and Germany also announced assistance to India. According to the Guardian, 495 oxygen generators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators from the UK will arrive in Delhi on the 27th. German Foreign Minister Maas said on the 26th that Germany will provide medical oxygen and other medical assistance to India in the next few days.
Before the West reached out, many countries
Help is already being provided to India. “Washington Post” reported that last weekend, India sent back liquid oxygen from Singapore and Saudi Arabia respectively. China and Russia expressed their willingness to provide assistance at the first time. Even India’s “old enemy” Pakistan said last Sunday that it is preparing to provide India with ventilators, X-ray machines and other materials.
The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka confirmed on Twitter on the 26th that 800 oxygen generators had been shipped from Hong Kong to Delhi on the same day, and the second batch of 10,000 oxygen generators would arrive within a week. Under this tweet from the embassy, many Indian netizens left messages, expressing “my heartfelt thanks” to China. Wang Xiaojian, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, said on the 26th that the Chinese government and people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting the epidemic.
Modi still calls on the people to vote
In such a severe situation of the epidemic, West Bengal, India, is still holding the seventh stage of local assembly elections. India’s “Business Standard” reported that Monday’s vote was held at 12,000 polling stations and that more than 8.6 million voters will decide 34 seats. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people to exercise their “citizenship for all people” while complying with the epidemic prevention regulations.
The British “Financial Times” commented that Modi and his government have been criticized for failing to prepare the medical system for the latest wave of epidemics. According to the Wall Street Journal, Modi said in a public speech at the beginning of the year, “Some people have predicted that India will be the most severely affected country in the world, but today, India is one of the countries that have successfully saved the lives of citizens”.
The 87-year-old former prime minister of India made a rare voice on the 25th and wrote to Modi to propose 16 anti-epidemic suggestions to the government. The Press Trust of India reported on the 26th that Gundam described the epidemic as a “national crisis” and vowed to fight with the power of the whole country. He called for the reduction of local state election celebrations, suspension of all by-elections and unfinished elections, and postponed them for at least 6 months. “It’s an emergency,” he warned. Although the current focus of epidemic prevention is on big cities, there may be “greater danger lurking in suburban and rural areas.”
