In this episode of Worldview, our Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar takes a look at India’s decision to accept foreign aid after 17 years. The government has done this to alleviate the pain of the COVID-19 crisis in the country.
India has gone from a country that claimed to defeat COVID-19, from being the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer and the pharmacy of the world, to a country that has been ravaged by the virus, and one that is now seeking both vaccines and basic medicines to treat coronavirus patients from abroad.
The decision to accept this aid is a major shift in Indian policy, and comes after then Finance Minister Jaswant Singh announced during his budget speech that said India had reached a stage when it would no longer rely on aid that was tied to any specific effort. However, officials say this is an exception made for the coronavirus crisis alone.
Here are some questions discussed in this episode:
Why is this a shift in policy?
What are the foreign policy implications of the Indian decision to take aid?
