Kathmandu, April 22: India has gifted 23 tonnes of essential medicines including Hydroxychloroquine to Nepal to assist the Himalayan nation in the fight against coronavirus crisis. Ambassador of India to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, handed over the medicines to Nepal Health Minister Bhanubhakta Dhakal on Wednesday.

The consignment includes 8.25 lakhs dosages of essential medicines, including 3.2 lakhs dosages of Paracetamol and 2.5 lakhs dosages of Hydroxychloroquine. This initiative manifests the continuing cooperation of India and Nepal in all situations and circumstances. Plan to Use Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 Treatment Receives Setback.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli thanked Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for "India's generous support" of 23 tonnes of essential medicines. "I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodiji for India's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal, to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The medicines were handed over to the Minister for Health and Population today by the Ambassador of India," Oli tweeted.

Early this month, Prime Minister Modi and his Nepali counterpart spoke over the telephone during which they agreed to continue close coordination and consultation among the experts and officials of the two countries on all the issues arising out from COVID-19, including the issue of cross-border supplies of essential commodities.

On March 15, Prime Minister Modi and Oli had interacted during a video conference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations.

PM Modi had proposed the creation of an emergency fund for the SAARC nations to combat the coronavirus pandemic and pitched India's initial offer of USD 10 million for this fund. Nepal had committed NPR 100 million to the SAARC emergency fund. Coronavirus Outbreak: India Likely to Face Shortage of Medicines Needed For Treating COVID-19 Patients as China Stalls Supplies to Address Local Demand.

India and Nepal have also been in a dialogue on inter-ministerial levels during the coronavirus outbreak. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on March 20 held a telephonic conversation with his Nepali counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and discussed enhancing cooperation and measures between the two countries to combat the threat posed by the novel coronavirus outbreak.