President Trump requests PM Modi to release Hydroxychloroquine ordered by US

The US has emerged as the worst sufferers of the deadly coronavirus diseases to which there has been no cure

PTI
Updated5 Apr 2020, 07:27 AM IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks to US President Donald Trump during a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi (Photo: Reuters)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks to US President Donald Trump during a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi (Photo: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump has said that he has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release the amount of Hydroxychloroquine ordered by the United States after India last month banned the drugs for exports.

Trump said that he spoke to Prime Minister Modi on Saturday morning and made a request to release Hydroxycholoroquine for the US.

"I called Prime Minister Modi of India this morning. They make large amounts of Hydroxychloroquine. India is giving it a serious consideration," Trump said at his daily news conference at the White House on Saturday.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade on March 25 banned the export of Hydroxychloroquine but said that certain shipments on humanitarian grounds may be allowed on a case-by-case basis.

With more than three lakh confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and over 8,000 fatalities, the US has emerged as the worst sufferers of the deadly coronavirus diseases to which there has been no cure.

Scientists across the world in particular in the US are racing against time to find either a vaccine or a therapeutic cure to the virus that has so far killed more than 64,000 people and infected 1.2 million in more than 150 countries.

Based on some initial results, the Trump administration is banking heavily on using Hydroxychloroquine, a decades old malaria drug, for the successful treatment of coronavirus.

Following a quick provisional approval from the US Federal Drug Administration last Saturday, the malaria drug along with a combination of some other drug is being used in the treatment of about 1,500 COVID-19 patients in New York.

According to Trump, the drug is yielding positive results. If successful, he told reporters that it would be a gift from heaven.

In the next several weeks, health experts in the US has projected between 100,000 to 200,000 deaths due to coronavirus, which due to human-to-human transmission is spreading like a wildfire in the US.

In anticipation of it being a successful drug in the treatment of coronavirus, the US has already stockpiled some 29 million doses.

It is in this context Trump requested Modi to help US get millions of doses of Hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that can be produced at mass scale in India.

Trump said he would appreciate if India releases the amount of Hydroxychloroquine that the US has ordered.

"And I said I would appreciate if they (India) would release the amounts that we ordered,” he said, without mentioning that quantity of Hydroxychloroquine that has been ordered by US companies from India.

The Trump administration has made Hydroxychloroquine as part of its Strategic National Stockpile.


Trump said that people in malaria affected-countries take Hydroxychloroquine and not many people are infected by coronavirus.

Trump said that he would take Hydroxychloroquine, if needed.

"I think people should if it were me, in fact, I might do it anyway. I may take it, Ok? I may take it. And, I'll have to ask my doctors about that, but I may take it,” he said in response to a question.

Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

MoreLess
First Published:5 Apr 2020, 07:27 AM IST
Business NewsNewsIndiaPresident Trump requests PM Modi to release Hydroxychloroquine ordered by US

Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!

  • Employment Type

    Most Active Stocks

    ITC share price

    481.90
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    1.85 (0.39%)

    Tata Steel share price

    153.05
    02:45 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    0.75 (0.49%)

    Infosys share price

    1,822.85
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    69.05 (3.94%)

    Larsen & Toubro share price

    3,640.75
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    65.35 (1.83%)
    More Active Stocks

    Market Snapshot

    • Top Gainers
    • Top Losers
    • 52 Week High

    EPL share price

    273.30
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    11.3 (4.31%)

    Firstsource Solutions share price

    385.25
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    15.85 (4.29%)

    National Aluminium Company share price

    244.80
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    9.8 (4.17%)

    City Union Bank share price

    179.55
    02:42 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    0.85 (0.48%)
    More from 52 Week High

    Hindustan Zinc share price

    514.65
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    -44.8 (-8.01%)

    Five Star Business Finance share price

    655.15
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    -18.5 (-2.75%)

    Great Eastern Shipping Company share price

    1,259.10
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    -34.9 (-2.7%)

    Triveni Engineering & Indus share price

    406.65
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    -10.6 (-2.54%)
    More from Top Losers

    CCL Products India share price

    732.00
    02:43 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    63.6 (9.52%)

    Eclerx Services share price

    3,304.60
    02:43 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    272.7 (8.99%)

    Piramal Pharma share price

    298.00
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    24.4 (8.92%)

    Dixon Technologies (India) share price

    15,572.10
    02:44 PM | 6 NOV 2024
    1176.1 (8.17%)
    More from Top Gainers

    Recommended For You

      More Recommendations

      Gold Prices

      • 24K
      • 22K
      Bangalore
      80,365.00110.00
      Chennai
      80,371.00110.00
      Delhi
      80,523.00110.00
      Kolkata
      80,375.00110.00

      Fuel Price

      • Petrol
      • Diesel
      Bangalore
      102.92/L0.00
      Chennai
      100.80/L0.00
      Kolkata
      104.95/L0.00
      New Delhi
      94.77/L0.00

      Popular in News

        HomeMarketsPremiumInstant LoanMint Shorts