Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan’s foreign minister, stated that China will be giving Pakistan half a million doses of Chinese-produced COVID-19 vaccine at no financial cost. Pakistani scientists have backed up the legitimacy of this vaccine, along with the AstraZeneca’s vaccine. China is willing to give Pakistan 1.1 million more doses by February as well. Qureshi also mentioned the potential for Pakistan and China to produce the vaccine jointly. Pakistan is hoping to get another Chinese-produced vaccine approved in order to get COVID-19 under control by way of herd immunity.
India did not include Pakistan on the list of neighboring countries to give vaccines to, therefore Pakistan has yet to receive any COVID-19 vaccines. This back and forth of India and Pakistan stems from the Kashmir territorial dispute that is still going on to this day. Pakistan’s biggest ally, China, took what could have been a peace offering from India. China and India also had recent dispute when India left the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an economic trade deal among neighboring nations.
China has not seemed as giving towards other allies. From a realist perspective, China might need some sort of help from Pakistan in the future. This help may involve India as they have had recent problems. Another possibility could be the involvement of Kashmir, something Pakistan has wanted to have full control over for the past several decades. China may also be looking through a liberal perspective and want to have their community be taken care of. This would be a great way to reinforce their relationship with Pakistan.