For India, the US has once again shown it cannot be trusted.
India needs to stand on its own from now, for the US has sold its soul to its elites who profit off capitalism and China.
In February 2021, after the Quad meet comprising US, India, Japan, and Australia, the US president Joe Biden declared India will produce vaccines for humanity with US technology and monetary help.
But come May 2021, the US is not even allowing exports of simple raw materials that Indian manufacturers so desperately need to make vaccines to fight a devastating surge of Covid-19 in India.
It was disheartening to read the news recently that said “US declines to lift a ban on exports of raw materials for vaccines to India”. Now Indian manufactures have set upon themselves to produce the raw materials too, and are set to save the developing World once again.
Just a month ago, before the Covid numbers started rising in again, India was exporting vaccines in millions helping many countries, even donating a considerable amount to many nations. India stopped helping others only because it was facing a surge.
For example, I recently read about Bhutan vaccinating all of its population so fast. This was entirely possible because of India supplying so many vaccines, much of it for free. Bhutan even held a ceremony to thank India for it.
But American media reporting Bhutan’s success conveniently ignored India’s help and in fact contrasted with “India’s slow pace of vaccination”. As if India’s 3 million vaccinations a day can be is comparable to Bhutan’s 500,000 net population!
Nowadays, I see the same American media criticize India for its slow vaccinations and non-availability of enough vaccines for India’s behemoth population. Even while India is producing 100 million vaccines a month and is currently vaccinating at the highest pace in the World.
While reporting India’s “slow vaccination”, if we can call 120 million in months that, they again conveniently ignore Biden administration’s ban on exports to India of crucial raw materials for the vaccines. If it were Trump in power, am sure the same media would have criticized him for this. And rightly so.
In fact, when Trump was in power, and the US went through a Covid surge, India came forward to help. India supplied Hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir. It also supplied PPE kits and many things the US needed to fight the virus that came from China to ravage all of us.
Yet, the US, now under Biden, seems to have no gratitude. American media is silent on the US apathy towards India’s suffering. The US intentions for the Quad and its promises to have a free and democratic world order are now in question. At least, to me, it feels like a farce.
The Quad seems to be a show put up to make India, Japan, and Australia complacent against threats — be it the war against this virus or war against expansionist, supremacist adversaries which bribe US elites and politicians handsomely to do their bidding around the world.
India needs to stand on its own against all threats. Covid crisis has taught us that as a nation we need to focus on the basics — food, fuel, medicine, and essentials. While having a robust self defense capability.
Atmanirbhar Bharat has taken care of self-sufficiency in defense faster than we can imagine. But the same needs to be rolled out in all other areas mentioned above as well. We have the industries; we have the resources, and we have the man-power. And we can do it.
