Missiles, vaccines and China bring the Philippines and India closer
- Manila this month signed a deal to buy the world’s fastest cruise missile from New Delhi, while it could also secure up to 38 million doses of Covid-19 inoculations made in India
- Analysts say there is potential for stronger political relations, though opinions are mixed about the potential of further defence cooperation between the two
Galvez said the Covovax vaccine – which is developed by US company Novovax and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) – would arrive in the third or fourth quarter of this year. The purchases will be a shot in the arm for the Philippine government’s slow-going vaccination programme, which aims to inoculate at least 70 million Filipinos within 12 months.
While health secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said the country had to vaccinate 450,000 people a day to hit that target, so far only 215,997 Filipinos – all health workers – have been inoculated, according to local media reports. According to GMA News, as of March 15 the Philippines had only acquired 1.13 million doses donated by China and the Covax Facility, an international effort to ensure fair and equitable access to vaccines.
Kishore Hemlani – the founder of Faberco, SII’s partner in the Philippines – earlier this year called the Covovax deal “a significant milestone in relations between India and the Philippines”.
Although the two countries have maintained diplomatic relations since 1949, ties have never been very close – but China and the pandemic are changing that.
