NEW DELHI – When an Indian navy aircraft landed in the Seychelles archipelago nation last month, the country’s foreign minister and other senior officials lined up on the tarmac to meet its precious cargo: 50,000 doses of Indian-made AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
Two weeks earlier, the island nation of the Indian Ocean – the total population, 98,000 – received a separate shipment of 50,000 doses of China-made Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, which is trying to make strategic forays into a region long seen by India. as part of its sphere. of influence.
Covid-19 vaccines are becoming an important form of diplomatic currency around the world as nations play for low-income gains. China and Russia offer their own vaccines, as do Western pharmaceutical companies.
Now India, a pharmaceutical giant that manufactured about 60 percent of global vaccines before the pandemic, is joining the fight, trying to strengthen ties and expand its influence in its neighborhood and beyond.
For years, Beijing has tried to derail Indian efforts to set up a military outpost in the Seychelles, allowing New Delhi to maintain control over Chinese naval and civilian ships in the area. India worked to cut off Chinese intrusions and helped build a network of coastal radar stations.