United States President Donald Trump announced on May 15, 2020 through a tweet that the US will donate ventilators to India. President Trump also affirmed that the US stands with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during this pandemic and stated that they will beat the invisible enemy together.
During a press address, the US President also underlined the close partnership between India and the US and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi his good friend. He reiterated that the US has a very large Indian population and many scientists and researchers among them are contributing to the development of the Coronavirus vaccine.
He also stated that India is one of the countries that the US is working very closely with to develop the COVID-19 vaccine.
Trump also announced that the COVID-19 vaccine will likely be made available by the end of the year. He appointed the former head of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline to spearhead the vaccine development effort in the United States.
Significance
US President Donald Trump’s announcement comes as a reciprocal gesture to India's decision to lift restrictions imposed on the export of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. Trump believes that the drug has a major role to play in the fight against coronavirus.
Background
India had imposed a ban on the import of the hydroxychloroquine in March 2020, to ensure that it has adequate quantities of the drug to support its battle against COVID-19 pandemic. However, at Trump’s request, India lifted the ban on the export of the drug. India allowed export of almost 50 million Hydroxychloroquine tablets to the United States, which is the worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 outbreak.
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