“There may be retaliation,” said the US President when asked about India’s export ban of a potential corona drug “Hydroxychloroquine,” sought aggressively by the US. However, India was quick to react as it partially released stocks of the drug for the U.S.
Ever since the drug was named in the coronavirus treatment, India, which sells the ‘over the counter’ drug available at a low price, its use has been severely restricted. In addition, the export has also been banned.
America seeks the corona drug import from India to counter coronavirus
Touted as the ‘corona drug’ owing to its anti-viral properties, Hydroxychloroquine drug, an anti-malarial drug, is the most sought after by President Trump, who has asked India to export it to them. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has denied it as the optimal COVID-19 treatment drug, President Trump has been enthusiastically endorsing the ‘Hydroxychloroquine’ drug and also stressed upon its regulation in a life-threatening situation. Howsoever, FDA has authorized the drug for experimental use in COVID-19 patients. America is currently the worst affected nation with 3, 60,000 coronavirus cases floating across the country and fatalities amounting to 11,000.
India has been manufacturing the drug for a century to battle malaria and other conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Other developed countries do not manufacture ‘Hydroxychloroquine’ because of the non-existence of malaria.
Hydroxychloroquine drug released to the U.S. amidst Trump’s Pressure
The coronavirus pandemic, which has engulfed around 200 nations across the globe, has made all countries to guard up their resources for dealing with virus management. India, which is the largest exporter of ‘paracetamol’ and ‘Hydroxuchloroquine’ recently added the latter to the dozen drugs banned for export, to cater to the domestic requirements in the coronavirus treatment. However, President Trump did not seem to like the ban and warned India of ‘retaliation’ if the latter does not oblige to the ‘Hydroxychloroquine’ supply to the former. Reportedly, President Trump called PM Modi, on Sunday as India implemented the ban on the drugs without exception. Subsequently, the Indian government lifted the ban, paving the way for the ‘anti-viral’ drug to be shipped to America.
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Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson for the Ministry of external affairs, expressed doubt upon how much amount of Hydroxychloroquine will be exported. He mentioned that since India had a sufficient quantity of drugs available and also open for ramping up the production, the drug may be exported to the neighboring countries on a ‘humanitarian basis’. In recent reports, Indian authorities mentioned that the pre-approved stock of Hydroxuchloroquine, which has been paid for, would be exported to the US. However, any other future exports will depend on the numbers depending on the requirement in the country itself, which is dealing with increasing numbers for a few days. India is currently seeing an increase in coronavirus cases, with 5,000 positive cases reported and more than 100 deaths.
