On April 6, 2020 , as the United States was pummeled by the Covid-19 pandemic, Time Magazine lamented how India had blocked exports of a malaria drug that held potential to treat novel coronavirus patients. The President of the United States tweeted asking India for help and within just six days the first shipment of the drug landed at Newark airport in New Jersey.
Now the tables are turned. India has suffered a devastating second wave of the pandemic and every aspect of its infrastructure is strained. The official numbers are high but the reality is much worse since both testing and death records are no longer able to keep up. Countries from Australia to France to Germany and even India’s “enemies” such as Pakistan and China, rallied to help.
Uncle Sam Awakens
On Sunday, April 25, 2021, the United States government, after an uncomfortable silence, began firing on all cylinders. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan released a statement that asserted, “To help treat COVID-19 patients and protect front-line health workers in India, the United States has identified supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that will immediately be made available for India. The United States also is pursuing options to provide oxygen generation and related supplies on an urgent basis.”
In part, this movement was driven by quiet pressure from trade organizations, influential Indian Americans and a wide range of Indophiles and think tanks. There is also an outpouring of help from non-governmental organizations. We, at The India Expert, are doing what we can.
Vaccine Diplomacy
Many Americans don’t realize it, but India is by far the largest producer of vaccines in the world, including Covid-19 vaccines. Under license from Astra Zeneca, Pune-based Serum Institute’s product has been shipped to 90 countries including Canada and Mexico. Another effective vaccine developed by Hyderabad’s Bharat Biotech has been licensed to Pennsylvania-based Ocugen so that they may gain U.S. FDA approval, and has been administered on millions of Indians, with plans to export to Brazil.
In addition, Maryland based Novavax struck a deal with the Serum Institute to partner in producing its new American vaccine. But President Biden’s invocation of the Defense Production Act (DPA), threw a monkey wrench in the plan to expand Novavax capacity to 2 billion doses per year. Key ingredients were needed to be shipped from the USA to India, but DPA blocked such shipments. Serum Institute’s head, Adar Poonawalla, tweeted a request to President Biden on April 16. There was widespread anguish in India as ten days passed with no word from the White House or the State Department.
Jake Sullivan’s statement yesterday included two separate references to Indian vaccine production (although none about Novavax). He said, “The United States has identified sources of specific raw material urgently required for Indian manufacture of the Covishield (Astra Zeneca) vaccine that will immediately be made available for India.” And he also made reference to yet another Indian company: the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is funding a substantial expansion of manufacturing capability for Biological E, the vaccine manufacturer in (Hyderabad) India, enabling BioE to ramp up to produce at least 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022.
Support from POTUS and VEEP
President Biden tweeted support for India shortly after Sullivan’s statement as did Vice President Kamala Harris (whose mother emigrated from India).
What this means
The partnership between the two largest democracies, USA and India, is resilient and strong and their supply chains are intertwined as is their mutual success.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
