United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for exporting hydroxychloroquine to America, calling him “terrific”. Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug believed to be effective against Covid-19 infections.

“Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends,” Trump tweeted. “Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!

In his daily Coronavirus Task Force press conference at the White House, Trump called Modi “terrific”, PTI reported. “I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem and he was terrific,” Trump said. “We will remember it,” Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on coronavirus.”

India had banned the export of hydroxychloroquine earlier this month in an effort to keep enough supplies of the drug for use within the country.

Trump had on Tuesday said that India had agreed to provide hydroxychloroquine to the United States, but if it did not do so, there could be “retaliation”. Hours after that, the Ministry of External Affairs rescinded the earlier ban and said India will export paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine in appropriate quantities to “nations who have been particularly badly affected” by the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States had by late Wednesday reported 4,31,838 cases of Covid-19, by far the highest for any country in the world, according to an estimate by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 2,000 people died in the United States on Wednesday for the second day in a row, and nearly 15,000 people had succumbed to the disease since the outbreak began.

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