Settle it quickly.

"A cold medication made in India and sold in Iraq is tainted with toxic chemicals, a test commissioned by Bloomberg News shows." ET. "A bottle of Cold Out purchased at a pharmacy in Baghdad in March contains 2.1% ethylene glycol, according to Valisure LLC, an independent US laboratory. That's about 21 times the widely accepted limit." "The relatives of 20 Gambian children whose deaths were linked to toxic cough syrups made in India have sued Indian drugmaker Maiden Pharmaceuticals as well as local authorities in the West African country." Reuters. "The filing which has not yet been made public, opens a new front in the fight for compensation and justice after at least 70 children, mostly babies and toddlers, died from kidney injury last year." "A presidential task force has recommended the Gambian government to explore legal action against the Indian government, Maiden pharmaceuticals and a local drug importer for the deaths of 70 children last year due to kidney injury allegedly caused by India made cough syrup." ET. The Gambia is a small country in West Africa with an area of just 11,300 sq km and a population of about 2.5 million. wikipedia. The Indian state of Manipur has an estimated population of around 3.5 million in 2023 because there has been no national census since 2011, when the population was around 2.9 million. indiacensus.net. But, whereas the central government has been avoiding any discussion of the civil war in Manipur (NDTV), forcing the opposition to introduce a no-confidence motion (BBC), it had better take The Gambia seriously. Even if, "India's pharmaceutical exports this fiscal year are set to grow nearly twice as fast as last year to hit sales of $27 billion, driven by strong US buying, a government-backed trade body told Reuters, despite deaths linked to Indian-made cough syrups." It is not just in tiny The Gambia but, "The Indian manufacturer of eye drops linked to three deaths and serious infections in the US violated several safety norms, the country's top regulator has said." BBC. The drops were found to contain a rare strain of drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa never before found in the US. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been "increasing visits to Indian factories after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions last year. Inspectors detailed unsanitory conditions in manufacturing plants and poorly trained staff; shreded paperwork and under-investigated customer complaints; and evidence of exporting contaminated drugs to the US." DH. As is usual, the Indian government has not found any contamination in cough syrups sent to The Gambia but the WHO insists that 4 out of 23 samples tested were contaminated. The Wire. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, "bilateral trade between India and Africa stood at approximately $98 billion in 2022-23." CII. That is a great reason to quickly settle with the grieving parents of the dead children. Already, "On average, 63 percent of Africans view China's economic and political influence as somewhat or very positive." cfr.org. Can we afford to lose out?