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Original Research | Political Science | Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2026 | Pages: 206 - 216 | India
Vaccine Diplomacy in Africa: India and China's Competing Soft Power Strategies
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic transformed global diplomacy by elevating health security to a strategic concern and redefining international power relations. This research examines the comparative dimensions of India's and China's vaccine diplomacy in Africa, emphasizing how both nations employed vaccine distribution as instruments of soft power and geopolitical influence. India's Vaccine Maitri initiative reflected a humanitarian model and reinforced its identity as the ?pharmacy of the Global South.? In contrast, China's Health Silk Road is integrated into the strategic tool. Through extensive analysis of government reports, international forums, and case studies across African nations, the study demonstrates how India's moral diplomacy and China's pragmatic statecraft reshaped Africa's diplomatic agency. The findings reveal that India's approach strengthened ethical legitimacy, and China's large-scale supply networks generated long-term economic interdependence. The study concludes that vaccine diplomacy has evolved beyond a public health response to become a defining feature of twenty-first-century global governance.
Keywords: Vaccine diplomacy, soft power, COVID-19, Vaccine Maitri, Health Silk Road, Belt and Road Initiative
How to Cite?: Shweta, "Vaccine Diplomacy in Africa: India and China's Competing Soft Power Strategies", Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 206-216, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26702104815, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26702104815