As India battles the coronavirus crisis, China bids to assert influence in region

Beijing attempts to fill the void as the rival, a country dubbed the vaccine powerhouse, continues to report record high new Covid-19 cases and is in dire need of international support.

Earlier this week, the world responded to India’s distress call as a second wave of the coronavirus raged across the country of 1.3 billion people. India was clocking new global records of new infections–crossing well over the 350,000 mark a day. It was in a dire need of vaccine raw materials, oxygen, drugs, beds and other medical amenities.