UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres salutes countries helping others in the global fight against the Coronavirus pandemic, his spokesman has said, days after India sent supplies of the anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine to several nations, including the United States.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

The demand for the drug has swelled rapidly in the last few days after India decided to lift a ban on its export.

“…the Secretary General calls for global solidarity in this struggle against the virus, and that means that every country who is in a position to help another country should. And we salute those countries that are doing so,” UN chief Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at the daily press briefing on Friday.

He was responding to a question on Guterres’ reaction to India’s efforts to send medicine and other supplies to other countries amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

New Delhi on April 7 lifted its ban on supply of Hydroxychloroquine and said that it “will supply essential drugs to some nations badly affected” by COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said given the enormity of the COVID-19 pandemic, India has always maintained that the international community must display strong solidarity and cooperation.

“In view of the humanitarian aspects of the pandemic, it has been decided that India would licence paracetamol and Hydroxychloroquine in appropriate quantities to all our neighbouring countries who are dependent on our capabilities. We will also be supplying these essential drugs to some nations who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic. We would therefore discourage any speculation in this regard or any attempts to politicise the matter,” he said.

India is in the process of supplying Hydroxychloroquine to 55 Coronavirus-hit countries as grants as well as on commercial basis.

A number of countries including the US, Mauritius and Seychelles have already received the drug in the past few days while several others will get it by the weekend.

In the neighbourhood, India is sending the drug to Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh Nepal, the Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, sources said.

India is also supplying Hydroxychloroquine to Zambia, Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Congo, Egypt, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Equador, Jamaica, Syria, Ukraine, Chad, Zimbabwe, France, Jordan, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman and Peru.

Earlier, following the ban, US President Donald Trump had in an apparent warning said that “there may be retaliation” if India does not agree to export Hydroxychloroquine.

However, he took a U-turn later and supported the Narendra Modi government’s position on the anti-malaria drug believed to be effective in the treatment of Coronavirus.

He further ended up praising PM Modi and said that the Indian government had to stop the export of the drug so as to ensure sufficient availability of the medicine in the domestic market.

Earlier, Israel, Barzil and Russia among others had also thanked the India government for supplying the anti-malaria drug.

Special Envoy from Dominican Republic to UN Ambassador Jose Singer and President of Security Council for April expressed gratitude to India for the donation of 200,000 Hydroxychloroquine tablets to his country.

“Dear Ambassador! My country the Dominican Republic is so grateful for this help in challenging times!!!” Mr Singer said in response to a tweet by India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin on India’s donating the medicines to the Caribbean nation.

Meanwhile, the Government on Friday removed restrictions on exports of medicines made from Paracetamol.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification, that restrictions on exports of Paracetamol active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs or raw materials) will continue.

The Government on March 3 had put export restrictions on 26 pharma ingredients and medicines, including paracetamol.