One good deed creates another. India had reached out a helping hand to the international community during the Covid-19 pandemic on numerous occasions with as many as 150 nations benefiting from New Delhi’s outreach with Covid vaccines and other medical supplies. The world, in a reciprocal gesture, has now reached out to India as it is being battered by a second wave of the virus. Australia has promised to send a retinue of non-invasive ventilators, as has Singapore. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates have decided to pitch in to mitigate the unprecedented crisis in oxygen in this country. The United Kingdom has pledged to send vital medical equipment while the United States of America — after, allegedly, a bit of dithering — has responded by promising emergency medical care units, oxygen supplies, vaccine-related items and therapeutics. France and Russia are among the other nations in this list of donors. The international assistance reiterates two different kinds of reality. India’s diplomatic leverage — this is reassuring — remains considerable; it is the smoothness of New Delhi’s bilateral ties that has helped this kind of support to materialize. But India’s cry for help also bares another, less edifying, aspect: the country continues to be far from self-sufficient when it comes to managing a crisis of this scale.
This sobering fact should be reason enough to direct public attention towards something else. Narendra Modi had assured India that his government was viewing the pandemic as an opportunity to augment atmanirbharta. India’s present dependence on donors — it is unlikely to be a balm on national aspirations for a seat on the international high table — provides ample evidence of the distance that separates the country from self-reliance. It is quite clear that the window of opportunity that had been gained when Covid cases were tapering has not been utilized by Mr Modi’s administration to shore up the local economy, affiliated services and the administration so that they could be prepared to meet this grim challenge. Being vocal for local is not enough; it requires meaningful support, investment and capacity building, none of which has taken place yet. In fact, atmanirbharta, while being a laudable idea, could be an anachronistic ideal. In an increasingly interconnected global economy, it is difficult to insulate the indigenous industries from their dependence on global suppliers. India’s request to the US to expedite the supply of raw material for the AstraZeneca vaccine is a case in point.