Why New Delhi needs to mount an India-driven global health-diplomacy push, and what it needs to do

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Workers unload cartons of a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine being delivered from India to Myanmar

Synopsis
The pandemic has catapulted India to the high table of global health diplomacy. Using its position as the world’s leading supplier of vaccines and medicines, it has wielded its soft power to great effect, grabbing significant political clout internationally. In this backdrop, what are the salient aspects that India needs to consider to consolidate its position further?

The coronavirus pandemic, described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a “health emergency”, upended public-health projections and exposed the fragility of healthcare ecosystems, particularly in the global south. On the one hand, India used soft power and global pharmaceutical dominance, backed by effective state policy, to deal with the situation. On the other, China’s vaccine certification and supply since 2015 under the WHO banner came