New Delhi: India banned wheat exports, in a blow to countries reeling from supply shortages and soaring prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The announcement drew sharp criticism from G7 industrialized nations’ agriculture ministers meeting in Germany, who said that such measures “would worsen the crisis” of rising commodity prices. “If everyone starts to impose export restrictions or to close markets, that would worsen the crisis,” German Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir said at a press conference in Stuttgart.
The spike in prices, exacerbated by fertilizer shortages and poor harvests, has fueled inflation globally and raised fears of famine and social unrest in poorer countries. India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, said that factors including lower production and sharply higher global prices meant it worried about the food security of its own 1.4 billion people.
Possessing major buffer stocks, India previously said it was ready to help fill some of the supply shortages caused by the Ukraine war. They make tall claims that “Our farmers have ensured that not just India but the whole world is taken care of,” Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in April. India said that it planned to increase wheat exports this financial year, starting April 1, to 10 million tons from seven million tons the year before. India, a country who is projecting herself as a world leader, show her real face on eleventh hour. India ditched the international community, who was banking on her vis-à-vis wheat.
International community must understand the double standards of India as India is totally incapable to be termed as leading economy. Corona vaccine export as well as this wheat export issue have unveiled the real evil and selfish face of India. Reuters
