Tis’ the season of Ramayan and Mahabharat. After shattering the TRP records and capturing the imagination of entire India across age-groups, Ramayan has found an unusual taker in the form of Brazil and its President. The Wuhan virus pandemic has engulfed the entire world and the South American country is also relatively hit badly by it with 14,049 cases and 688 deaths recorded so far.
Just like President of the United States of America, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has pinned his hopes on India and PM Modi for the export of the Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) medicine which is being touted as a game-changer to treat the deadly disease. The President invoked Ramayan by comparing HCQ to ‘Sanjeevani Booti’ in a letter requesting New Delhi for the export.
“Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama’s brother Laksmana, and Jesus healed those who were sick and restored the sight to Bartimeu, India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis by joining forces and sharing blessings for the sake of all peoples. Please accept, your Excellency, the assurances of my highest esteem and consideration,” read the letter from President Jair Bolsonaro to PM Narendra Modi.
India had temporarily banned the export of the drug on March 25 to stockpile for the domestic demand. But after Trump and several other countries requested the wonder-medicine, India decided to lift the blanket ban on the export –on a “case by case” basis.
In view of the humanitarian aspects of #COVID19 pandemic, it has been decided that India would licence paracetamol & Hydroxychloroquine in appropriate quantities to all our neighbouring countries who are dependent on our capabilities: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) pic.twitter.com/W7Vox2sd2E
— ANI (@ANI) April 7, 2020
Presently India produces 20 crore tablets of HCQ per month to meet domestic and global demand, and as the demand is high, production capacity could be ramped up if needed. As per a report by Business Today, the pharmaceutical companies shall increase the production capacity to 5-6 times in the coming months to make hundreds of crores of tablets per month. Of these, 10 crore tablets would be kept for Indian use while the rest would be exported to the United States and other neighboring countries.
The majority of the pharmaceutical companies which manufacture this drug have factories in Gujarat and headquartered in Mumbai. Gujarat CM, Vijay Rupani, proudly announced this and said, “Gujarat is shining the world over. US President Trump has been vigorously demanding that drug from India. Now, when the Centre has given permission for its export, Gujarat is all set to send it to the United States.”
Now, Brazil by invoking Ramayan and Lord Hanuman has played the diplomatic card rather cheekily, which in these somber times is a breath of fresh air. The relations between the two countries are stronger than ever as the President was the Chief Guest on India’s 71st Republic day this year. Both leaders had a telephonic conversation earlier where they discussed the global situation in the wake of the pandemic. Bolsonaro, after the call had tweeted in Portuguese about his discussion with the Prime Minister and the possibility of importing HCQ.
India has emerged as the savior of the world and every other country is looking up to it for the medicine and other reliefs. The Prime Minister’s response to these calls has been remarkable to observe. He has handled the situation with utmost grace and shown true statesmanship, whilst taking a lesson from the many-a teachings of the holy Ramayan.
