Cooperate on health supplies
No country can be insular. India has done the right thing
The Indian government’s decision to conditionally lift its export ban on 14 pharmaceutical products, including much-in-demand hydroxychloroquine, is correct. It has done an assessment that shows there is enough for internal requirements plus a buffer. A large number of strategically important countries, ranging from India’s South Asian neighbours to the United States (US), had asked to tap into India’s large pharmaceutical base. India also saw an opportunity to display leadership in rolling back the present “beggar thy neighbour” policies that are fragmenting global medical supply chains to the detriment of all coronavirus victims. Remember, India is as dependent on external medical supplies as anyone else.
Even into the fourth month of the pandemic, India is importing tonnes of protective gear and testing kits from all over the world. Even before US President Donald Trump’s unacceptable reference to possible “retaliation”, India — based on an assessment of its domestic needs, the need to ensure it remains in a position to ask the US itself for critical supplies, and display statesmanship — had decided to go ahead. While the initial bans and restrictions on medical supplies and drugs were an inevitable panicked response, over time, it is becoming clear they make little sense. No government has the ability to manufacture every variety of medical equipment and manufacture all varieties of drugs within its borders.
Many political leaders believe these are make-or-break times and this pressure manifests itself in unseemly ways. Hence Mr Trump’s personal obsession with chloroquine and his boorish language regarding India’s earlier ban on the medicine. India’s own behaviour has not been without fault. The continuing decision to ban the export of diagnostic kits, irrespective of disease, was harmful to many developing nations and deserves to be reviewed. Hopefully, India’s decision on the pharmaceutical front indicates a formula-based policy, which will add to a global momentum towards greater openness and cooperation in handling the pandemic. In a viral sea, no country is an island.