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Brazil & India have seen their health systems collapse after a covid surge. The US decision to react to India's requests &send raw materials for vaccines, lifting an export ban (which it didn't do for Brazil) shows how India's influence inWashington far exceeds that of Brazil
4 reasons explain why India is far more influential than Brazil:
1st, and most importantly, India's diaspora in the US is politically very powerful. For example, the "India lobby" was critical in pressing members of US Congress to support the US-Indian nuclear agreement in 2006.
1st, and most importantly, India's diaspora in the US is politically very powerful. For example, the "India lobby" was critical in pressing members of US Congress to support the US-Indian nuclear agreement in 2006.
Brazil's diaspora in the US, by comparison, is not only smaller, but also lacks the same organizing power or influence. (There are many reasons for this, but one is that the Brazilian government doesn't really regard Brazilians living abroad as a strategic asset.)
Indian elites are also better connected in DC. Over the past days, Indian politicians, heads of think-tanks, business entities etc. requested the US to exempt India from aspects of the Defense Production Act to allow the export of vaccine materials.
2nd, while both India's Prime Minister Modi and Brazil's President Bolsonaro are Trump fans, have authoritarian ambitions, are actively undermining their democracies and do not have a good reputation in Washington, the Modi government was pragmatic when Biden came to power.
Bolsonaro, on the other hand, said he believed the US election had been fraudulent and long refused to congratulate Biden. Bolsonaro, in a nutshell, is doing whatever possible to complicate the lives of those in Washington DC defending strong US-Brazil ties.
3rd, India's strategic relevance for US is unmatched - its economy is bigger than Brazil's, it's a more important trading partner, & it's a crucial ally for the US to contain China. Indian policy makers can access the highest echelons of power in DC in a way that Brazil cannot
4th, as a major vaccine producer, India had planned to export millions of doses to poor countries, but now exports have ceased. That, and the fact that India's population is more than 6 times bigger than Brazil's, provided Indian negotiators asking for help with more leverage.
