Amid global demand for hydroxychloroquine, India is on the front foot in its fight against coronavirus by supplying drugs to other countries. After supplying hydroxychloroquine to most affected countries such as the United states,Spain and the UK, India is all set to bulk supply hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol to close allies Russia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and key partners in Latin America and Africa.
A shipment of HCQ is also being sent to Dominican Republic which is the current President of the UN Security Council, as well to Uganda and Ecuador.
According to an officials statement, India is also committed to supply these two drugs to its special strategic partner Russia. On March 25 Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken to PM Modi. But at this moment the special focus of the government are the Gulf countries, mainly the UAE. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla are in constant touch with their Gulf counterparts. A 15-member army medical team with supplies has already been sent by India to Kuwait and India also supplied HCQ to Bahrain.
The decision to promptly send the drugs to Abu Dhabi and Dubai was taken after UAE sent a request for 3.25 crore HCQ 200 mg tablets and 10 metric tonnes of active pharmaceutical ingredients. These commercial supplies will go through six Dubai-based consignees having contracts with Indian pharma majors in Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru.
According to media sources, India has put the drug supplies to UAE and Jordan on a fast track as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a personal rapport with both UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and King Abdullah of Jordan.
While India has been supplying drugs to other countries, it is also leveraging the drug to get supplies of rapid testing kits, N 95 masks, ventilators and PPE suits from a host of countries. Apart from China, whose first consignment of rapid testing kits has landed, India is getting supplies from the US, UK, Ireland, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Germany and Malaysia.
