IT WAS CALLED the Spanish influenza, but given the number of Indians it killed, the flu pandemic of 1918-19 should perhaps have carried a different name. Some 18m are thought to have died, or 6% of the country's population at the time. A century later, with covid-19 lapping at India's now far more crowded shores, fears are rising that the world's second-most-populous country could again bear a disproportionate share of the global agony. Until now, India has been lucky with this coronavirus. Despite the proximity of China there is only modest human traffic between the Asian giants, a result of chronically strained relations. Nor do many travellers visit India from other early centres of the pandemic, such as Iran and Italy. Partly as a result, India has registered fewer than 200 cases so far, and only three deaths. Most of those testing positive acquired the virus outside the country.
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