Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Lekh Raj Bhatta has said India will not stop export of medicines to Nepal.
Organizing a press conference at the ministry on Friday, he revealed that the government is talking with India on the matter and the Indian side has said it will not immediately stop export to Nepal.
India has banned export of 13 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their formulations including paracetamol, tinidazole, metronidazole, acyclovir, vitamins B1, B6 and B12, progesterone, chloramphenicol, erythromycin and clindamycin salts, neomycin and ornidazole due to coronavirus outbreak.
Minister Bhatta said the two countries have held a commerce secretary level meeting after the Indian step. "We have already held discussion. They have said they won't stop essential items as it is a special scenario. They have said the ban has been put to ensure that India is not hit when China, which supplies APIs, has been hit by the virus outbreak. They have assured that export to Nepal will not be stopped," he elaborated.
Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada, who is also filling in as communication minister after resignation of Gokul Baskota, said during the weekly press conference on Thursday that the high-level coordination committee formed to tackle the coronavirus has decided to urge India to lift the ban for Nepal.
