Hours after US President Donald Trump thanked India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision on hydroxychloroquine, the latter responded saying the India-US partnership is "stronger than ever".
“India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together,” Modi wrote in a tweet.
On Wednesday, 8 April, Trump thanked Modi for allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine, deemed a possible cure against COVID-19, which has infected a whopping 4.3 lakh Americans and claimed over 14,600 lives.
"I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem (that) arose and he was terrific. We will remember it," Trump was quoted by PTI as saying.
Earlier, in a tweet, Trump had praised Modi for his strong leadership and said that India's help during this crisis will not be forgotten.
The US is one of the worst-affected nations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 14,600 Americans having lost their lives and over 4.3 lakh having tested positive. Trump has been pushing for the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
‘PM Modi Was Great, Really Good’
“A sizeable chunk of the 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine bought by the United States to combat the coronavirus pandemic is from India,” Trump had said earlier on Monday, as he acknowledged that PM Modi was “great” when he sought his help to allow the sale of the anti-malaria drug to treat the growing number of COVID-19 patients in America.
Trump and PM Modi had spoken over the phone last week. During the call, Trump requested Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is a major producer, reported PTI.
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"I bought millions of doses (of hydroxychloroquine). More than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, a lot of it (hydroxychloroquine) comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it? He was great. He was really good," Trump told Sean Hannity of the Fox News on Monday night.
"You know they put a stop because they wanted it for India,” Trump said responding to a question on the usage of hydroxychloroquine.
India on Monday agreed to lift the ban on the export of hydroxychloroquine to the US. Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the US, state Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had said on Tuesday.
India manufactures 70 percent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.
The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. And since the drug is also used to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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