India okay with COVID-19 foreign aid, major policy shift |
In what marks a major shift in policy in 16 years, India has now started accepting gifts, donations, and aid from foreign nations as the medical infrastructure in the country is under tremendous pressure. There is a severe shortage of medical supplies in the country as it has reported more than 3 hundred thousand cases every day during the past 8 days. Besides, “There have been two other changes in approach that signal this shift. India now has “no conceptual problem” in procuring oxygen-related equipment and life-saving medicines from China. The Modi government has allowed the State governments to procure life-saving devices and medicines from foreign agencies. The new strategy is significant in the midst of the policy of self-reliance. This is to note that the UPA government under Manmohan Singh had decided to not accept aid from foreign sources, after the Dec 2004 tsunami. So far, more than 20 countries have come forward to help India — from neighbors to major powers. Among the countries that are sending support are the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, Australia, Bhutan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Switzerland, Norway, Italy and the UAE. It is noteworthy that during the same period of last 16 years, India has also emerged as a development partner, providing aid and grants in cash and kind to at least 100 countries around the world. COVID-19 could well mark a change in global thinking and policy-making approach, as countries scramble to rescue each other from the scourge of the Pandemic. India had last year sent direly needed medicines to many countries including the rich and developed ones.
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