India’s COVID vaccine gestures: from maitri to coloniality

India’s Vaccine Maitri campaign, launched to signal its success in the fight against COVID-19, and as a benevolent act to save lives in the neighbouring countries, was neither. In this article, we argue that the campaign was an act of diplomacy by the Indian nation. Through a “postdevelopment” theoretical lens, we position Vaccine Maitri as a campaign that was designed to propagate India’s goals of developmental expansion in the subcontinent and beyond. Through our analysis of the discourse on Vaccine Maitri, we unpack this hidden development agenda.