NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro held a telephonic conversation on Saturday about the novel coronavirus and discussed how the two countries could join forces in combating the pandemic.
Modi also had a telephonic discussion with US President Donald Trump earlier, during which the two leaders resolved to deploy the full strength of the India-US partnership to fight the deadly COVID-19 (coronavirus disease).
"Had a productive telephone conversation with President @jairbolsonaro about how India and Brazil can join forces against the COVID-19 pandemic," Modi tweeted.
Bolsonaro also tweeted in Portuguese about his discussion with Prime Minister Modi, saying he requested for support in the continuity of the supply of pharmaceutical inputs for the production of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.
"We will spare no effort to save lives," the Brazilian president said.
In the past few days, Modi has held a series of discussions over phone with several world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and UK's Prince Charles.
Modi ALSO discussed the situation with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon on Saturday and the two leaders agreed on the importance of international cooperation to fight the global health crisis.
During the telephonic conversation, Modi conveyed his deepest condolences for the loss of lives in Spain and assured the Spanish prime minister that India would be ready to extend support to his country to the best of its ability.
"The two leaders agreed on the importance of international cooperation for fighting the global health crisis," an official statement said.
The Spanish prime minister agreed with Modi's observation that the world needed to define a new, human-centric concept of globalisation for the "post-COVID era".
The two leaders also agreed on the utility of yoga and traditional herbal medicines for providing an easily accessible means to ensure the psychological and physical health of the people confined to their homes due to the pandemic.
They said their teams would remain in constant touch with each other as regards the evolving COVID-19 situation and the requirements emerging from it.