Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das handed over the supplies, consisting of 100,000 hydroxychloroquine tablets and 50,000 sterile surgical latex gloves, to Health Minister Zahid Malik on Sunday.

The health minister expressed his appreciation for India's continued support in terms of providing essential medical supplies, protective gear and capacity building to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

“A helping hand from our neighbour at this time of distress is most welcome,” he said.

The package forms part of India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy aimed at taking a collaborative regional approach to containing the spread of the coronavirus, the Indian High Commission said in a statement.

The supplies, transported from India with the help of Biman Bangladesh, were subsequently dispatched to Central Medical Stores Depot.

US President Donald Trump earlier sought hydroxychloroquine tablets, a malaria drug from India, as he hoped it would be an effective remedy for COVID-19 patients. Later, other countries also requested India for supplies of the drug.

Initially, India, the world's biggest producer of hydroxychloroquine, imposed a ban on exporting the drug but later decided to supply it to its neighbouring countries. It has already supplied the medicine to the UK, US, Brazil and Japan.

The SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was set up with an initial contribution of $10 million from India. Other countries pledged to add to the fund with Bangladesh committing $1.5 million.

The first tranche of emergency medical assistance under this fund, containing 30,000 surgical masks and 15,000 head-covers, arrived in Bangladesh on Mar 25.