In what can only be described as a rather weird development, the apparent dissonance associated with the trial of the Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh is being blamed on India. But how on earth is India to be blamed in a situation where there’s Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh, and not exactly Indian vaccine? Just what is going on, and furthermore, are situations so dire that the media in the region has published several news updates on the said development?
Apparently, at the centre of the storm is this allegation that India had, believe it or not, meddled with the trail of the Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh.
Now, if that is indeed true, then it’s loathsome. But, so far, what is the proof and the firm evidence that India was actually at fault?
Last year, the trials for the Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh had been halted. The vaccine being put under a trial run was from the firm Sinovac Biotech. That the trial of the Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh didn’t go as planned, having hit a dead-end as a result of Indian intervention- as alleged- could only mean one thing.
It could be the ongoing tiff between India and China that dominated global headlines for much of 2020. India and China have been constantly embroiled in the ongoing cross border mishaps and scuffles that have seriously hampered the ties between the two Asian powerhouses.
But unless and until there’s strong evidence to establish India’s guilt, which thus far seems nothing other than China crying foul, nothing can be said for certain.
That being told, what’s important in this matter is to note the emergence of the news that sees India being accused for hampering in the trial of Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh.
Fact is that even before the Bangladeshi media could elaborate on the matter, the news was broken by the Communist Party of China. The media outlet that first carried the news is Global Times, a publication of the Chinese Communist party.
That being said, it is important to understand the details of what was conveyed by the Chinese communist party-run Global Times:
The report originally published in the Global Times said, “the trials, according to the agreement sealed in July, were to start in August. It also confirmed that according to the initial agreement, Bangladesh did not need to share the cost. But the clinical trials were delayed until October due to the Indian government allegedly meddling in the two sides’ cooperation during the period,” the report – one of the many that China’s tightly-controlled media has published to target vaccines made by India and western companies – said.”
Now, what makes this a complicated situation is also the fact that neither China nor Bangladesh are on the same page where it comes to the exact reason why the trails of the vaccine were halted in Dhaka. Both countries offer contrary views as to why the co-funding of the vaccine trial was halted with the common perception being a lack of harmony in the original agreement being signed by the parties.
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Meanwhile, the Hindustan Times happened to share the following with regards to India’s involvement; fascinating information which suggests anything but the fact that the country meddled in Bangladesh’s affairs, as alleged by China:
In sharp contrast to the Chinese approach, New Delhi sent a gift of two million doses of Covishield vaccine to Dhaka on January 21 and facilitated a commercial contract of 30 million doses with the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.