India’s Covid 19 catastrophe: The cost of complacency

"Last year, in February-March, a lot of experts had said that India will be the worst-affected country, there will be tsunami of cases. They predicted two million deaths in the country. But India moved ahead with a proactive public participation," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi proclaimed on January 28, 2021, not too many months ago. Modi boasted his success on a world stage, claiming that India has proven every prediction wrong about the potential impacts of Covid-19 on the country. The gloating was not concealed. Addressing the World Economic Forum's Davos Dialogue, Narendra Modi said, "Today, India is among countries that have succeeded in saving the maximum lives. The country, which comprises of 18 percent of the world's population, has saved the world from disaster by bringing the situation under control." To humbly say that "we" have succeeded in averting a catastrophe, or cautiously say that the dire predictions have not come to pass is one thing—but to be gleeful is another. Modi's tone and posture were clearly triumphant. In early March, he continued the victory lap, saying that India would serve as "the world's pharmacy," as it was rolling out vaccines for developing nations. His cabinet members proclaimed that India has entered the "endgame" of the pandemic.