This'll go down well....not. https://twitter.com/ani/status/1247290614972133383

It's not so much the asking for the supply, which is fair enough since it involves existing orders & calls for respecting agmts, it's the "retaliation" bit said publicly that won't go down well https://twitter.com/ani/status/1247290614972133383?s=21 https://twitter.com/ani/status/1247290614972133383

And this is why India's abrupt export ban of hydroxychloroquine -- now caveated -- didn't go down so well in the US: "According to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence, 47% of the U.S. supply of the drug last year came from India makers." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-06/half-the-u-s-supply-of-trump-touted-virus-drug-now-cut-off

Acc to @CNBCTV18News, Indian govt's adjusted its export ban (haven't seen GoI confirmation yet). Why? Could be many reasons. Recognizing race to the bottom or diplo costs/other countries offered carrots or warned re sticks/India's been concerned about China doing the same to it

Btw if anyone thinks countries don't threaten/suggest retaliation privately, they do. Problem from diplo perspective is Trump often says quiet part of loud, which his base loves but his counterparts' domestic audience won't. It makes it harder for them & reinforces -ve view of US

FYI here's the transcript of what Trump said w/r/t India exporting (or not) hydroxychloroquine to the US...

Unsurprising that countries whose cos. had contracted for hydroxychloroquine from India were upset abt its abrupt ban of a few days ago (now reportedly changed). India wld hv been similarly upset if another country had abruptly stopped exports of APIs for essential drugs to India

What might get lost in all this, I'm afraid, is that sans the "retaliation" part of the latest comment, this issue actually is an example of India & the US quietly making an effort to manage/resolve a difference that could hv become a larger dispute if not handled carefully

For India, this involves a bunch of tradeoffs – diplo, health, econ. E.g. understandable concern in India of falling short of hydroxychloroquine or its ingredients domestically, but then it has to worry not just abt diplo costs/econ retaliation but also losing mkt share abroad