NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has praised the BJP-led central government for its “vaccine diplomacy” during the Covid pandemic years calling it a “powerful example of international leadership”.
In a column titled “Covid’s silver lining for India” written for the English magazine The Week, Tharoor said, “India’s vaccine diplomacy during the Covid pandemic stands out from amid the horrors of that time as a powerful example of international leadership rooted in responsibility and solidarity. By delivering made-in-India vaccines to over 100 nations, India demonstrated its capacity to extend a helping hand when it mattered most.”
This has added another positive remark to the list of praises by the veteran Congress leader for the central government. He had recently appreciated PM Modi’s anti-war stance on Russia-Ukraine conflict who had said that “peace cannot be found on the battlefield.”
The article comes amid reports of rift between the Congress and the veteran leader over Kerala leadership.
What does the op-ed say?
Tharoor’s article was centered around India’s strength as a soft power during those years rooted in the field of technology and training.
“Our efforts were not limited merely to the provision of vaccines but extended to the sending of Indian military doctors to Nepal, the Maldives, and Kuwait, and to organising online training for health care workers across South Asian nations. Additionally, through its engagement with global platforms like GAVI, the Quad, and the Pan Africa E-Network, India addressed immediate health concerns while laying the groundwork for long-term international cooperation,” he wrote.
“India’s vaccine diplomacy served as a counterbalance to China’s influence in South Asia and Africa, where both nations were vying for goodwill through vaccine supplies,” he added.
Tharoor lauded the Vaccine Maitri initiative launched by the central government in 2021 which exported vaccines to over 100 countries including nations across West Asia, Africa, Latin America, and our immediate neighbourhood.
“Leveraging its position as the world’s vaccine manufacturing hub, India launched the Vaccine Maitri (Vaccine Friendship) initiative in January 2021. This programme aimed to supply Covid-19 vaccines to countries in need, particularly to developing nations. India’s exports of vaccines—both as aid and commercial shipments—reached nations across West Asia, Africa, Latin America, and our immediate neighbourhood,” he wrote.
He, however, did not shy away from calling the lockdown “stringent”.
“No one in India is commemorating the fifth anniversary of the stringent lockdown prompted by Covid-19, which the government imposed on March 24, 2020. We, the survivors, all think of Covid as a bad dream, one marked by suffering, tragedy and loss,” he said.
Rift or rumour?
Tharoor recently made headlines after there were a series of events — a podcast, selfie, and a cryptic post — pointing towards his rift with Congress.
Last month, in a Malayalam podcast interview, Tharoor had warned that Congress risked staying in opposition in Kerala for a third term if it failed to expand its appeal. He pointed to a leadership vacuum within the state party and suggested he had “other options” if Congress no longer needed his services.
In an unrelated event, he had posted on X a quote by Thomas Gray– “Where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise” — as the thought of the day.
Adding to the buzz, he had shared a selfie with Union minister Piyush Goyal, praising the revival of India-UK FTA negotiations, further intensifying speculation about his political future.
However, he later played down the reports of rift saying, “You all heard the podcast, what was the controversy about?…I still haven’t understood the controversy…now that you have heard the whole podcast, can you tell me what your question is, I am happy to respond…it is a podcast, a 45-minute conversation about life and pursuits of Happiness, nothing there much about any political controversy”
