In Myanmar, vaccination of the new coronavirus made in India began on the 27th.

China has also announced that it will provide Myanmar free of charge, which is a place where vaccine diplomacy between China and India collide.

Vaccination of medical staff such as doctors and nurses began on the 27th in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar.



The vaccine used is developed by British pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and manufactured in India.



A man who works as a volunteer at a temporary hospital where infected people are hospitalized said after the vaccination, "We must thank India for showing consideration for Myanmar."



The Myanmar government is in a difficult financial situation to solicit donations from the public to procure vaccines, and the Indian government delivered 1.5 million vaccines free of charge on the 22nd of this month.



Meanwhile, the Chinese government has offered to provide 300,000 free doses when Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar on the 11th of this month.



Since Myanmar borders China and India and is in a strategically important position, the two countries, which continue to have tensions over sovereignty, are fighting to expand their influence, and the two countries also collide in vaccine diplomacy. It is a place.

India Vaccine Diplomacy Against China

A major Indian pharmaceutical company has a contract with AstraZeneca, a major British pharmaceutical company, to manufacture vaccines developed by AstraZeneca in India and sell them domestically and internationally.



The Government of India purchased the domestically manufactured vaccine from the company and began offering it free of charge to countries in South Asia and the Indian Ocean on the 20th of this month.


So far, we have provided

4.9 million doses in 7 countries, including


1.5 million doses to Myanmar


, 2 million doses to Bangladesh,


and 1 million doses to Nepal


.


In the future, we will provide it to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan free of charge.



"India, as the'pharmacy of the world', has supported and will continue to support countries in need of help," said India's Prime Minister Modi, showing his willingness to provide vaccines. I am.



In South Asia and the countries of the Indian Ocean, China, which has a huge economic zone concept "One Belt, One Road", is expanding its influence through infrastructure development such as railroads and ports, and for India, China through so-called "vacuum diplomacy". It seems that there is also an aim to counteract.



Professor Jabin Jacob of the University of Shiv Nadar, who specializes in diplomatic relations between India and China, said, "India and China are actively working to supply vaccines to developing countries, which is one of the important elements of diplomacy. This is part of a power struggle and power game by the great powers, but India is one of the most capable vaccine-producing countries in the world and has an advantage over China. "

Myanmar under the offensive of vaccine diplomacy

China is proceeding with the construction of a distribution route "China-Myanmar Economic Corridor" in Myanmar under the "One Belt, One Road" giant economic zone concept.



When completed, China will have a foothold for the aorta and marine expansion from the inland to the Indian Ocean.



Meanwhile, India has expressed concern about this from a security perspective, and the interests of China and India in Myanmar are clashing.



Regarding Myanmar's position to be attacked by vaccine diplomacy from both China and India, Mr. Kin Kin Chou Ji of the Myanmar Strategic Policy Research Institute said, "Myanmar wants to avoid worsening relations between China and India, so balance We will continue to approach it. If we make a mistake, we will have to be cautious because it could be a place where the blood of a surrogate war can flow between the two great powers. " Although I want to get it anyway, I analyze that it is also necessary to keep the balance between the two countries carefully.