Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that India-US partnership is stronger than ever in his response to US President Donald Trump's tweet thanking India on its decision to allow exports of anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine. The drug is being experimentally used to fight Covid-19.

"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," Modi tweeted on Thursday.

HCQ was on the top of the list of medicines that the US wanted India to supply to the country, despite the complete restriction placed on its exports by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade on April 4.

On April 6, Trump threatened retaliatory action against India if it did not release supplies of HCQ to the US and the Ministry of External Affairs said, a day later, that India was ready to export to "badly affected" countries.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ," Trump tweeted on Wednesday. On the same day Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla discussed issues related to availability of essential medicines with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun on the telephone.

Although the US was not named by India as a candidate for exports of HCQ, Trump's tweet indicated that he had received some assurance on it.

US is one of the most severely hit countries with more than 3,98,000 Covid-19 cases and nearly 13,000 deaths. In India, the number of cases is over 5,200 with about 150 deaths.

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