After G7, US nudges India to reconsider restrictions on export of wheat

India, the world's second-biggest wheat producer, has banned wheat exports in a bid to check high domestic prices

The United States now joined the other Western nations to call upon India to reconsider restrictions it recently imposed on export of wheat.

New Delhi is likely to come under pressure to review its export restrictions at the meetings to be held at the United Nations to discuss global food crisis in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. To blunt the global criticism, India sent out words that it would grant “exemptions on case-to-case basis” to allow export of wheat to its “neighbours and friends around the world”. The government already gave the go-ahead for export of 61500 MT of wheat to Egypt on Tuesday.

“We have seen the report of India's decision. We're encouraging countries not to restrict exports because we think any restrictions on exports will exacerbate the food shortages,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the permanent representative of the US to the United Nations, said in New York.

Also Read | What India's u-turn on wheat exports means for world markets

President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack, also expressed “deep concern” over India’s move to restrict export of wheat. "What we need is transparency in the market, what we need is a market that is helping to get goods to those who are in need," said Vilsack.

The Group of Seven industrialised nations earlier denounced India’s move to restrict export of wheat, stating that such measures would worsen the global food crisis caused by supply disruption due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

New Delhi, however, argued that it had restricted export of wheat, not only to ensure domestic food security of India, but also to support the needs of its neighbouring and vulnerable countries, which were adversely affected by the sudden upheavals in the global market and were unable to access adequate supplies.

Also Read | Wheat prices hit record high after India export ban

“India will be one of the countries participating in our meeting at the Security Council, and we hope, as they hear the concerns being raised by other countries, that they would reconsider that position,” Thomas-Greenfield told journalists at the UN headquarters.

India has already been drawing flak from the US and the other Western nations for persistent refusal to denounce Russia for its military aggression against Ukraine.

Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, has convened a ministerial meeting at the UN headquarters on Wednesday to discuss ways to mitigate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the consequent supply disruption on global food security. Besides, the UN Security Council will also hold an open debate on Thursday on "Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Conflict and Food Security”.

V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs, will represent the Government of India at both the events in New York.

India is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council till December 2022.

Also Read | India says wheat export ban to help neighbours, other vulnerable nations

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Delhi on Saturday banned export of wheat without its prior approval, German agriculture minister Cem Ozdemir denounced it on behalf of the Group of Seven industrialised nations, stating that if every nation started to impose restrictions, the global crisis would worsen.

He was addressing a news-conference in Stuttgart in Germany after hosting his counterparts from other G7 nations in a meeting, primarily to discuss the global wheat crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He also said that India's ban on export of wheat would also affect its neighbours like Bangladesh and Nepal.