EVENT DATE : 15 MAY 2021
India’s vaccine diplomacy was supposed to boost its international image, but now it serves as yet another reminder of poor planning and misplaced priorities of Indian authorities. India has long sought a seat in global governance bodies, but with the entire world shocked and raged at India’s poor management of the epidemic at home, would it be considered as a serious contender anymore for a global leadership role?
As international media excoriates India’s government and horrifying images of the unfolding crisis dominate the internet and television world over, India’s image has taken a huge beating. Through this debate we would like to examine whether this would be understood in context of an emerging power suffering under a temporary natural calamity or reinforce the old notions of India being an incompetent “third world” nation.