Brazilian President invokes Ramayana, thanks India for supplying Covid vaccine

New Delhi, January 23

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has thanked India for supplying Covid vaccines to his country and shared on social media an illustration of Lord Hanuman bringing ‘Sanjivani booti’ from India to Brazil.

Responding to Bolsonaro on Twitter on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “The honour is ours, President @jairbolsonaro to be a trusted partner of Brazil in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic together. We will continue to strengthen our cooperation on healthcare.”

On Friday, India began commercial exports of Covid vaccines and sent two million doses each to Brazil and Morocco.

In a tweet on Friday, Brazilian President Bolsonaro said: “Namaskar, Prime Minister @narendramodi. Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts.”

“Thank you for assisting us with the vaccine exports from India to Brazil. Dhanyavaad!” he said.

Posting the same message in Portuguese, Bolsonaro also shared an illustration of Lord Hanuman carrying the Dronagiri hill from India to Brazil with a syringe and a vial on top.

According to a popular tale from Ramayana, Lord Hanuman was tasked with bringing the ‘Sanjeevani booti’, a herb with life-saving properties, from the Dronagiri hill after Lord Ram’s younger brother Lakshman was injured in a battle in Lanka. Unable to identify the herb, Lord Hanuman returned with the entire hill.

Last year also, in a letter to Prime Minister Modi seeking supply of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, Bolsonaro had invoked Ramayana, mentioning the story of how Lord Hanuman brought ‘Sanjivani booti’ from the Himalayas to save Lakshman’s life. PTI