: Wednesday, May 5, 2021, 2:30 AM IST
India's Covid tsunami has forced an element of normality in ties with China, writes Manoj Joshi
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Sun Weidong@China_Amb_India
The intensification of the Covid-19 pandemic in India has caught New Delhi on the backfoot in more ways than one. While it continues to deal with the fallout of the second wave of the pandemic, its domestic travails inevitably have an impact on the dynamics of its foreign policy.
On the one hand, instead of emerging as a regional powerhouse supplying vaccines to its neighbours, it has stopped almost all vaccine exports and has had to rely on overseas medical assistance. On the other hand, it has forced an element of normality in its relations with China. This is evident from President Xi Jinpingâs letter to Prime Minister Modi offering help to India to cope with the pandemic. This is the first known communication between the two leaders following the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 and the Sino-Indian border crisis of AprilâMay last year.