Trump Thanks Modi for Lifting Ban on Export of Key Drug

· Trump said the US had secured 29 million doses of HCQ from India

· India on 4 April banned exports of HCQ through a notification, without exemptions on humanitarian or other grounds

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked prime minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for lifting curbs on the export of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)— a drug used to treat malaria but seen as useful in the treatment of patients suffering from covid-19.

“Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump said in a Twitter post on Wednesday, 8 April 2020.

Earlier on Tuesday, in an interview to Fox News, Trump said the US had secured 29 million doses of HCQ from India.

“I bought millions of doses. More than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, a lot of it comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it. He was great. He was really good. You know they put a stop because they wanted it for India. But there is a lot of good things coming from that," Trump told Fox News.

In a telephone conversation over the weekend Trump had requested Modi to lift its ban on exports of HCQ, talked up by Trump as a drug for covid-19. India on 4 April banned exports of HCQ through a notification, without exemptions on humanitarian or other grounds. But the curbs were lifted on Tuesday albeit with some conditions attached.