While the United States rolled out a full range of support for India’s battle against Covid-19, it remained non-committal to on its position on India’s joint proposal with South Africa at the WTO to grant a temporary waiver of intellectual rights to vaccines and therapeutics to ensure they are freely accessible around the world.
But India and South Africa are not giving up. Their ambassadors to the United State met Monday with a senior member of the US congress to argue their case, and to tap into and broaden support for their case among lawmakers.
Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhi tweeted Monday that he and his South African counterpart, Ambassador Nomaindya Mfeketo, met with Congresswoman Karen Bass, (Africa American) chairperson of the House subcommittee on Africa and Global health and discussed “healthcare issues & need for equitable distribution of affordable Covid vaccines and therapeutics”, the last part of which is the sum ad substance of the joint WTO proposal.
There was no response from the South African embassy for a request for comments.
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Their meeting on Capitol Hill came on a day intense activity on India-US ties, with President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking about the second wave of Covid 19 cases in India. Modi told Biden “about India’s initiative at the WTO for a relaxation in the norms of the Agreement on TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right) to ensure quick and affordable access to vaccines and medicines for developing countries”, according to a readout of their call released by the external affairs ministry.
US response was best captured by the White House readout that had no mention of it. Asked about it at a briefing on background, a senior administration official said “It was discussed briefly. We are looking at it, but I have nothing to say about our position right now.”
But pressure is mounting on the Biden administration from a growing number of its Democratic allies on the Capitol Hill. “This temporary, targeted TRIPS waiver is a critical tool in overcoming this once-in-a- lifetime pandemic,” a group of 10 Democratic senators of the party’s progressive wing wrote to President Biden recently, adding, “Your Administration has the opportunity to reverse the damage done by the Trump Administration to our nation’s global reputation and restore America’s public health leadership on the world stage.”
The Indian-South African proposal was moved at the WTO last October. The United States and other high-income countries, most of who have since built up large stockpiles of vaccines, therapeutics and related technologies, have prevented the world body from even discussing the proposal, which has been backed by more than 80 member countries.
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Tammy Baldwin, one of these 10 senators, said Monday, “While wealthy nations are able to purchase more shots, international efforts to get the vaccine to the rest of the world, like the World Health Organization’s so-called COVAX effort (a WHO-led effort to provide vaccines to all), are falling woefully short of increasing the global supply to a level that is needed to stomp out the virus and save the lives of Americans and people around the world, we ask that you prioritize people over pharmaceutical company profits by reversing the Trump position and announcing US support for the WTO TRIPS waiver.”
Atman Trivedi, a former state and commerce departments official who is now managing director with international consultants Hills & Company, said, “The ten progressive senators’ letter may move the needle, especially as the devastation in India serves as a poignant reminder that many parts of the world have yet to vaccinate their people.”
While publicly defiant in the face of mounting pressure, the Biden administration is understood to be debating the issue internally, especially as more and more Americans get inoculated.
