<p>India will strike a balance between its priority on meeting domestic requirement and its relations with the United States while deciding on American President Donald Trump’s request to relax the ban it imposed on export of Hydroxychloroquine – a drug, which has been recommended for treatment of the COVID-19 patients.</p>.<p>Trump requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a phone call on Saturday to relax the ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine, so that the US could import the drug from India to meet its growing demand to treat people infected by the virus.</p>.<p>“Our decision will be guided by national interests. Our priority will always remain on ensuring the availability of the medicines and all the medical equipment like ventilators, coveralls, masks and gloves in adequate numbers for the patients and the healthcare providers,” a senior official in New Delhi told the DH, adding: “We will of course factor in India’s friendly relations with the US.</p>.<p>Trump and Modi discussed the COVID-19 pandemic over the phone. They agreed to “deploy full strength” of India-US partnership to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which wreaked havoc not only in the two countries, but also around the world.</p>.<p>The COVID-19 infected over 1.13 million people around the world and killed over 62700 of them so far. Over 8,000 died out of more than 300,000 people infected by the virus in the US. In India, at least 3,300 people have fallen sick after being infected by the virus and 79 of them died so far.</p>.<p>No specific cure has been developed for the COVID-19 so far, while researchers are still working on developing a vaccine that could keep the virus at bay. But the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) recommended the anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine for treatment of the patients infected by the virus. So did Indian Council of Medical Research.</p>.<p>The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had first imposed restrictions on export of Hydroxychloroquine and formulation made from Hydroxychloroquine from India on March 25 – allowing export only from Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Oriented Units (EOUs), or in the cases of payments being already made or if the irrevocable Letter of Credit has been issued. The DGFT had also allowed export of the drug only with clearance from the Union Government on humanitarian considerations.</p>.<p>The DGFT, however, imposed a blanket ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine from India, “without any exception”, on Saturday – just a few hours before the Prime Minister and the US President spoke to each other over phone and discussed the pandemic.</p>.<p>“After call today with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is giving serious consideration to releasing the hold it put on a US order for Hydroxychloroquine,” Trump later said at the White House Coronavirus task force briefing.</p>
<p>India will strike a balance between its priority on meeting domestic requirement and its relations with the United States while deciding on American President Donald Trump’s request to relax the ban it imposed on export of Hydroxychloroquine – a drug, which has been recommended for treatment of the COVID-19 patients.</p>.<p>Trump requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a phone call on Saturday to relax the ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine, so that the US could import the drug from India to meet its growing demand to treat people infected by the virus.</p>.<p>“Our decision will be guided by national interests. Our priority will always remain on ensuring the availability of the medicines and all the medical equipment like ventilators, coveralls, masks and gloves in adequate numbers for the patients and the healthcare providers,” a senior official in New Delhi told the DH, adding: “We will of course factor in India’s friendly relations with the US.</p>.<p>Trump and Modi discussed the COVID-19 pandemic over the phone. They agreed to “deploy full strength” of India-US partnership to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which wreaked havoc not only in the two countries, but also around the world.</p>.<p>The COVID-19 infected over 1.13 million people around the world and killed over 62700 of them so far. Over 8,000 died out of more than 300,000 people infected by the virus in the US. In India, at least 3,300 people have fallen sick after being infected by the virus and 79 of them died so far.</p>.<p>No specific cure has been developed for the COVID-19 so far, while researchers are still working on developing a vaccine that could keep the virus at bay. But the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) recommended the anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine for treatment of the patients infected by the virus. So did Indian Council of Medical Research.</p>.<p>The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had first imposed restrictions on export of Hydroxychloroquine and formulation made from Hydroxychloroquine from India on March 25 – allowing export only from Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Oriented Units (EOUs), or in the cases of payments being already made or if the irrevocable Letter of Credit has been issued. The DGFT had also allowed export of the drug only with clearance from the Union Government on humanitarian considerations.</p>.<p>The DGFT, however, imposed a blanket ban on export of Hydroxychloroquine from India, “without any exception”, on Saturday – just a few hours before the Prime Minister and the US President spoke to each other over phone and discussed the pandemic.</p>.<p>“After call today with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is giving serious consideration to releasing the hold it put on a US order for Hydroxychloroquine,” Trump later said at the White House Coronavirus task force briefing.</p>
