Prime Minister Narendra Modi was 'terrific' in allowing export of hydroxychloroquine to US: Donald Trump

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was 'terrific' in allowing export of Hydroxychloroquine to US: Donald Trump

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was 'terrific' in allowing export of hydroxychloroquine to US: Donald Trump

New Delhi : Hours after US President Donald Trump thanked India for allowing the export of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that New Delhi will do everything possible to help humanity in fight against the novel coronavirus.

In a tweet on Thursday morning, PM Modi said that he agree with Donald Trump and "times like these bring friends closer."

"Fully agree with you President Donald Trump. Times like these bring friends closer. 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," PM Modi tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was 'terrific' in allowing export of hydroxychloroquine to US: Donald Trump

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was 'terrific' in allowing export of hydroxychloroquine to US: Donald Trump

Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. 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. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020
Earlier in the day, Trump thanked India for allowing the export of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. Describing PM Modi as 'terrific', the US President had said that India's help in the extraordinary times "will not be forgotten".

"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 told reporters at his daily White House news conference on coronavirus on Wednesday.

In a tweet hours earlier, Trump praised Modi for his strong leadership and said that India's help during this crisis will not be forgotten.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was 'terrific' in allowing export of hydroxychloroquine to US: Donald Trump

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was 'terrific' in allowing export of hydroxychloroquine to US: Donald Trump

Coronavirus Outbreak: India reports 540 new COVID-19 cases, 17 fatalities in 24-hrs; tally rises to 5,734, death toll at 166

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten!" he said.

"Thank you, Prime Minister for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump said in his tweet that went viral and was re-tweeted more than 60,000 times and liked by over two lakh people.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Also Read | Coronavirus Pandemic: US records nearly 2,000 deaths for second day in row, highest single-day count so far

India manufactures 70 per cent 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 for auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

(With PTI Inputs)