As Nepal’s government scrambles to get hold of vaccines amid a surge in coronavirus cases, China has said it will provide 1 million doses to the Himalayan country that is home to more than 28 million. The move comes after India stopped supplying vaccine exports to Nepal, citing its own growing domestic demand. Hou Yanqi, China’s ambassador to Nepal, said on Twitter on May 25 that the announcement to provide the vaccines was made during a phone conversation between President Xi Jinping and Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. The surge in infections is creating larger cracks in Nepal’s already-fragile health care system, pushing it towards the brink. Hospitals are overwhelmed with coronavirus patients and do not have sufficient ventilators or oxygen. Nepal is now seeing more infections per million than its neighbour India, with about 9,000 new cases a day, up from fewer than 200 in the first week of April. Nepal has vaccinated just 1.9 million people since it launched a campaign in January – less than 7 per cent of the total population. China and India have a history of vying for influence in Nepal. Wedged between two giants, Nepal has always had a strategic importance that belies its size. Both nations have been giving away vaccines to Nepal as a part of diplomatic efforts to strengthen their ties with the country. Nepal has relied on India for vaccines, oxygen and other medical supplies. It launched its vaccination drive in January with the Covishield vaccines provided by India . It ordered 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from its neighbour earlier in the year. However, after supplying 1 million doses in February, India’s own pandemic struggles put a stop to exports of supplies and vaccines. Nepal has also received 800,000 vaccine doses from China and continued its vaccination drive. Then the supplies dried up. Now, China is attempting to fill the void by supplying additional doses as the Nepali authorities struggle to get hold of vaccines. The Covax Facility, which was the country’s immediate hope, has already told the government that it will not be able to provide vaccines before next year. Covax has committed to providing enough to vaccinate 20 per cent of Nepal’s population. In a world of vaccine diplomacy , China’s biggest diplomatic advantage is speed. As South Asian countries like Nepal do not have quick access to Western vaccines, China can increase its soft power influence in these nations. While India is struggling with its own outbreak, China wants to be seen as a global power, and that isn’t possible without being a leader of Asia. It would seem that China wishes to create a South Asian bloc without India. Last month, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a virtual meeting with his counterparts from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. India was not present. Participants agreed to extend practical cooperation in fields including Covid-19 response, poverty reduction, non-traditional security and poverty reduction. The US, meanwhile, has launched its own initiative, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue , or “Quad”, with Australia, India and Japan. As such, the Biden administration has shown that the US sees India as one of its key partners in dealing with China’s rising influence in the Indian Ocean. In 2020, the Trump administration signed an agreement that grants India access to US satellite data crucial for targeting missiles and military assets. The US is also a major supplier of military equipment to India. China’s growing vaccine diplomacy could therefore be a response to the Quad’s activities and the growing closeness of India and the US. India, sometimes called “the pharmacy to the world”, had set its sights on becoming a global superpower in vaccine distribution. It has supplied 60 million AstraZeneca vaccines to 76 countries under the Covax mechanism and was set to produce a billion doses by 2022 with support from Quad partners . But its growing Covid-19 crisis has set back those ambitions, opening up opportunities for China to use vaccine diplomacy to increase its influence in South Asia. Countries including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives have approved Chinese vaccines for emergency use or given the go-ahead for a mass roll-out. Chinese support for Nepal comes amid recent political upheaval , during which the president has dissolved parliament and announced elections for November. China is believed to have invested a lot of time and effort in helping to form the Nepal Communist Party, bringing together the communist parties CPN-UML and Communist Party of Nepal Maoist Centre in 2018. Now, however, the nation’s biggest communist party has splintered, leaving China scrambling to preserve its interests. Its recent announcement of support for Nepal confirms Beijing’s interest in the country amid a changing political landscape. With no options to procure Western vaccines any time soon and India struggling with its Covid-19 crisis, South Asian countries such as Nepal should tactfully turn to China for help, to secure more vaccines for their citizens. Otherwise, the unprecedented cataclysm threatens to engulf one and all. Brabim Karki is an author and businessman based in Nepal