India Ready To Export Wheat To Cover Global Shortage

India can act as an exporter of wheat to make up for the global shortage due to the situation in Ukraine, Indian Foreign Minister Su Jaisheng said. 

 

Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue forum in New Delhi, Sujasin said, "One of the consequences that we have seen as a result of the conflict in Ukraine has been reflected in energy prices, food shortages and food inflation. India can change the current situation by intervening in agricultural exports, especially wheat exports." 

 

Sujesen noted that India is now "trying to figure out how we can provide enough wheat to make up for the global shortage." 

 

The Indian foreign minister said, "Of course, there are some WTO restrictions, but this is a very special situation. We hope the WTO will see it that way as well." 

 

Last week, the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation had approved India as a source of wheat imports. After the crisis in Ukraine led to a global price increase, the price of a range of food products in Egypt also began to rise in March. The Egyptian cabinet issued a decree in response, imposing price controls not only on subsidized bread but also on non-subsidized bread. In addition, the Egyptian government banned the export of all types of cooking oil, corn, wheat, flour and beans, as well as a range of other products, for a period of three months. Russia is a major wheat supplier to Egypt. Before the conflict began, Cairo also imported large amounts of grain from Ukraine. 

 

According to Thomson Phiri, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program, the conflict in Ukraine could lead to higher global food prices and trigger global hunger. Ukraine and Russia account for 30 percent of the world's wheat exports, 20 percent of world corn exports and 76 percent of world sunflower oil exports, so any disruption in production or exports could lead to higher prices.