Botswana’s decision to gift India eight cheetahs has been followed by a major medical shipment from New Delhi with India dispatching 10 tonnes of antiretroviral (ARV) medicines to support the government’s public HIV/AIDS treatment programme.
The shipment, announced by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday, places health cooperation at the centre of a rapidly deepening relationship between the two countries.
“Dispatched 10 tonnes of Anti-Retroviral medicines to Botswana today to support their public health system for HIV/AIDS treatment,” Jaishankar said. He described the consignment as an affirmation of India’s commitment to strengthening health cooperation with its Global South partners.
The medical shipment comes less than a year after Botswana made a high-profile wildlife gesture to India, donating eight cheetahs under New Delhi’s ambitious Project Cheetah.The cheetahs were captured in Botswana’s Ghanzi region before being transferred to a quarantine facility during the November 2025 state visit of Indian President Droupadi Murmu to Botswana.
While Botswana supplied India with a conservation resource of international significance, India has responded with medicines directly supporting one of Botswana’s most important public-health programmes.
Murmu and President Duma Boko witnessed the symbolic handover at Mokolodi Nature Reserve on November 13, 2025. India subsequently transported the Botswana cheetahs to Kuno National Park in February 2026, where they became part of the latest phase of Project Cheetah, aimed at restoring the species to India after its extinction there.
While Botswana supplied India with a conservation resource of international significance, India has responded with medicines directly supporting one of Botswana’s most important public-health programmes. The ARV shipment also fulfils an undertaking made during Murmu’s November 2025 visit. During her talks with Boko, the Indian President announced that India would supply essential ARV medicines at the request of the Botswana Government. The two countries also signed an agreement on pharmacopoeia intended to facilitate access to quality and affordable Indian medicines in Botswana.
The Indian President’s November visit was itself historic: it was the first-ever presidential visit from India to Botswana. Murmu said at the time that the relationship between the two countries was based on trust, respect and shared democratic values.
