JOIN USAfter Trump warns of retaliation, India to export anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to some countries
India on Tuesday said that it would supply Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to its neighbours as well as some countries that are badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hours after the United States President Donald Trump warned New Delhi of “retaliation” if it does not allow the US to import the HCQ from India, the Modi government indicated that it would relax the blanket ban it had earlier imposed on export of the drug, which has been recommended for treatment of the COVID-19 patients.
“In view of the humanitarian aspects of the pandemic, it has been decided that India would license (export of) Paracetamol and HCQ in appropriate quantities to all our neighbouring countries who are dependent on our capabilities,” Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said in New Delhi. “We will also be supplying these essential drugs to some nations who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic.”
He, however, did not specifically mention the countries to which New Delhi would allow the export of the HCQ.
The US, however, is now one of the worst COVID-19 affected countries in the world, with at least 3 lakh people being infected by the virus and more than 10,000 dying from the disease.
The Trump Administration’s plan to import the HCQ from India hit a roadblock when the Modi government imposed a blanket ban on the export of the drug.
Hours after the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) of the Government of India issued the notification barring the export of the HCQ “without any exception”, Trump called Modi and requested him to relax the ban so that the US could procure the drug from India.
New Delhi received similar requests from a few other countries too.
Trump, however, sought to subtly step up pressure on the Modi government.
"I don’t like that decision. I didn’t hear that was his (Modi's) decision,” Trump said at the White House Monday. “I would be surprised if that was his decision. He would have to tell me that," the US President said early on Tuesday (Indian Standard Time). He was responding to a question on the possible response by the US in the event of New Delhi turning down its request.
"If he (Modi) doesn’t allow it (HCQ consignment from India to the US) to come out, that would be OK, but of course there may be retaliation, why wouldn’t that be,” Trump said while interacting with journalists in Washington D.C.
New Delhi avoided a strong response even after the US President warned of "retaliation".
"Given the enormity of the COVID-19 pandemic, India has always maintained that the international community must display strong solidarity and cooperation," the MEA spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Srivastava said that the first obligation of the Government of India was to ensure adequate stocks of medicines for its own people - just like any other responsible government would.
Over 4,200 people have been infected by the COVID-19 in India and more than 100 of them have already died.
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