'Hope India Will Reconsider': US on Centre's Wheat Export Ban

Wheat prices had spiked to a record high, three days after India imposed a ban on exports of the grain.

An ambassador of the United States said that America hopes that India will reverse its decision about banning wheat exports.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An ambassador of the United States said on Monday, 16 May, that America hopes that India will reverse its decision about banning wheat exports as the move could augment the issue of food shortage.

"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," US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a virtual New York Foreign Press Center briefing.

"India will be one of the countries participating in our meeting at the Security Council, and we hope that they can, as they hear the concerns being raised by other countries, reconsider their position."

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield

Thomas-Greenfield said that the Russian war in Ukraine had led to the aggravation of the food shortage.

"Ukraine used to be a breadbasket for the developing world, but ever since Russia started blocking crucial ports and destroying civilian infrastructure and grain silos, hunger situations in Africa and the Middle East are getting even more dire. This is a crisis for the whole world, and so it belongs to the UN," she stated.

The United States is holding the presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the month of May, and is scheduled to conduct a meeting on food security this week amid a crisis of grain paucity.

Wheat prices had spiked to a record high on Monday, 16 May, three days after India imposed a ban on exports of the grain. India's move had come after a huge crop loss was recorded in the country due to the heatwave in March.

Earlier, agriculture ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations had condemned India's decision to ban unapproved wheat exports.