New Delhi, April 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday replied to US President Donald Trump over his tweet thanking the Prime Minister for the export of anti-malarial drug-hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to help the US fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister said times like these bring friends closer and asserted that the India-US partnership is stronger than ever. "Fully agree with you President Donald Trump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever. India shall do everything possible to help humanity's fight against COVID-19. We shall win this together", he tweeted. 

Earlier in the day, Trump had thanked Narendra Modi twice for allowing the export of pre-ordered hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Calling him "terrific" Trump said, "I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested from before the problem arose and he was terrific". "We will remember it," he added.

Here's the tweet by PM Narendra Modi

In the last week, Trump and Prime Minister Modi held talks over the phone  during which the US President requested Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is the major producer.  Following Trump's request, India agreed to lift the ban on the export of teh anti-malarial drug- hydroxychloroquine to the US. The US has been severely affected by COVID-19 pandemic as the number of cases inched towards the half-million mark, with 31,503 cases reported by Wednesday night, taking the tally to 431,838.

India manufactures 70% of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine. On Tuesday, India decided to export anti-malarial drug to several COVID-19 affected countries with its commitment to the international community to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 09, 2020 10:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).