ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to analyse how the principal states of South Asia—Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka—have so far responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. Data about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic should be approached with a healthy degree of skepticism. The principal states of South Asia generally started implementing protective measures for containing the spread of Covid-19 in January 2020, followed by strict lockdowns in March 2020. The five principal states of South Asia—Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—have all failed to sustain an effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Setting aside state capacity and the process of decision-making, the data and observations in the chapter suggest that some driving factors in explaining outcomes may be exogenous to state mechanisms. Widespread vaccinations could rapidly improve the situation, but states are struggling to acquire and distribute vaccines, including in India, a host to some of the world’s best vaccine manufacturing facilities.
