India’s Stakes in the Global Pandemic Agreement

Syllabus: GS2/Global Institutions; GS3/Issues Related To Health

Context

• Recently, India supported stronger global coordination while emphasising equity, national sovereignty and resilient health systems at  the UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR), New York.

About Global Pandemic Governance Regime

• The COVID-19 pandemic exposed major weaknesses in global health governance i.e. unequal access to vaccines and therapeutics, fragile health systems, dependence on global supply chains and inadequate disease surveillance.
• The emerging regime seeks to institutionalise lessons from COVID-19 through two interconnected pillars:
  • WHO Pandemic Agreement (PA): A legally binding international instrument negotiated under the WHO Constitution.
  • UN Political Declaration on PPPR: It provides political commitment and complements the WHO-led legal framework.
• The central challenge is to reconcile global solidarity with national sovereignty, particularly between the Global North and Global South.

WHO Pandemic Agreement (PA)

• It was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2025, with 124 countries voting in favour, none against and 11 abstaining. 
• It represents the first major global legal framework specifically designed to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
• Key Provisions:
  • One Health: Integrating human, animal and environmental health.
  • Strengthening surveillance, laboratories and health workforce.
  • Greater cooperation on technology, manufacturing and supply chains.
  • Equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.
  • Creation of a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) mechanism.
• However, the Agreement’s operationalisation remains linked to negotiations on the PABS annex, which seeks to ensure that countries sharing pathogens and genetic information also receive fair and timely benefits such as vaccines, medicines and diagnostics.
• The core North-South fault line is clear i.e. developing countries seek technology, financing and equitable access, while many developed countries are cautious about binding obligations affecting intellectual property, technology transfer and national regulatory autonomy.

UN Political Declaration on PPPR

• The UN Declaration complements the WHO Agreement by providing a broader political commitment to pandemic prevention and preparedness.
• Its significance lies in strengthening:
  • resilient and equitable health systems;
  • international cooperation and surveillance;
  • health workforce and laboratory capacities;
  • One Health approaches;
  • access to medical countermeasures; and
  • pandemic financing and global coordination.
• Thus, the emerging regime attempts to move pandemic governance from ad-hoc crisis response to institutionalised preparedness.

India’s Position: Solidarity with Sovereignty

• India supports international coordination but maintains that member-states need to retain primacy in designing policies according to their national circumstances. 
• It has emphasised that ‘global solidarity must be demonstrated through action’, particularly through equitable access to vaccines, drugs and therapeutics.
• India has highlighted global public goods, including digital health infrastructure, laboratory networks and One Health capacities.
• This position bridges the North-South divide:
  • Developing countries demand financing before accepting costly commitments, such as extensive One Health surveillance.
  • Developed countries remain cautious about binding technology-transfer and intellectual-property obligations.
  • India seeks to build consensus without diluting national policy space.
• The US rejection of the Declaration, particularly over concerns regarding PABS and the WHO’s role, illustrates the continuing sovereignty-versus-global-governance debate.

Why Does India Matters in Global Pandemic Governance?

• India occupies a unique position as both a major pharmaceutical manufacturer and a developing country.
• It is among the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers by volume and played an important role in COVID-19 vaccine supply.
• However, several vaccine technologies and patents remain controlled by multinational pharmaceutical companies.
• India remains significantly dependent on imports of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
• It requires advanced technologies for high-grade PPE, medical devices and biotechnology.
• Hence, India needs both access to Global North technology and the ability to provide technological support to the Global South.
• Its continental-scale health system also makes its experience in digital health, laboratory networks and One Health potentially valuable as global public goods.

Related Efforts & Initiatives by India

• Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH): Launched during India’s G20 Presidency in 2023 to promote interoperable digital-health systems.
• National One Health Programme: Promotes integrated surveillance of human, animal and environmental health.
• PRET Initiative: India participated in WHO’s Preparedness and Resilience For Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative, strengthening preparedness for future pandemics.
• Vaccine Diplomacy: Vaccine Maitri demonstrated India’s capacity to supply vaccines to developing countries.
• G20 Health Diplomacy: India placed health emergency preparedness, digital health and resilient health systems prominently on the G20 agenda.

Way Forward for India

• Lead South-South Cooperation: India should develop partnerships with Global South countries on surveillance, One Health, laboratories and health-workforce strengthening, creating practical solutions to sovereignty concerns.
• Leverage Multilateral Platforms: India should use the G20, Partners for Multilateralism and other coalitions to build consensus around equitable pandemic governance.
• Strengthen Domestic Capacity: Global leadership must rest on domestic resilience. India should reduce API dependence, expand biotechnology and medical-device manufacturing, strengthen genomic surveillance and improve regulatory capacity.
• Champion Equitable PABS: India should actively shape the PABS framework so that pathogen sharing is matched by timely and affordable access to resulting vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.
• Institutionalise Global Public Goods: India’s digital-health architecture, laboratory networks and One Health capabilities should be developed as scalable models for developing countries.

Conclusion

• The emerging pandemic regime will succeed only when sovereignty does not become isolation and solidarity does not become unfunded obligation. 
• India’s strategic role is therefore to bridge the Global North and South and convert its domestic health capabilities into global public goods. 
• An equitable Pandemic Agreement is not merely India’s international responsibility, it is essential to India’s own health security.

Source: TH