According to a report by International Business Times, after the Narendra Modi government allowed the export of hydroxychloroquine, India faced a shortage of the medication. This forced the Rajasthan government to return its entire stock of 300 mg tablets to the firm it was acquired from.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for rushing a five-tonne cargo of medicines, including anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19.

"Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!", Netanyahu said in a tweet Thursday evening.