Grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, Brazil has urged India to remove restrictions on the export of hydroxychloroquine referring to epic Ramayana and Jesus Christ.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro said, “Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama’s brother Lakshmana, and Jesus healed those who were sick and restored the sight to Bartimeu, India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis by joining forces and sharing blessings for the sake of all peoples.”
The Brazilian President was the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day. Brazil is s one of the 30 countries which has asked India to do away with the ban.
The Prime Minister assured all possible support to the Brazilian President and agreed that officials from both the countries would remain in regular touch with respect to the COVID-19 situation and its emerging challenges. Brazil has over 14,000 cases and 127 deaths so far.
The two leaders had spoken to each other on the telephone on last Saturday and discussed the situation across the world in the wake of the COVID-19. “Had a productive telephone conversation with President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro about how India and Brazil can join forces against the #COVID19 pandemic,” Modi had tweeted.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called him “great” and “really good” for supplying the drug a day after warning “retaliation” if India did not export it.
The US President for the past few days is claiming that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine will be the “game changer” in fighting the pandemic which is now raging through that country claiming more than 13,000 lives.
Thanking Modi for making available the drug, Trump said on Wednesday the first shipment of a total of 29 million doses of the drug was on its way from three factories in Gujarat to the United States, reports news agency PTI.
“I bought millions of doses... more than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, a lot of it comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it. He was great. He was really good,” Donald Trump told American channel Fox News.
