G7 criticises India decision to stop wheat exports

India’s move to restrict the export of wheat has drawn flak from the West which was already peeved over the country's steadfast refusal to lend its voice to the western chorus of condemnation against Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government banned export of wheat without its prior approval, the Group of Seven industrialised nations condemned the move by India. “If everyone starts to impose export restrictions or to close markets, that would worsen the crisis,” German agriculture minister Cem Ozdemir said. He was addressing a news conference in Stuttgart in Germany after hosting his counterparts from other G7 nations in a meeting, primarily to discuss global wheat crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

India has already been facing heat from the United States and other western nations for not joining them in denouncing Russia for its aggression against Ukraine. It stressed dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict but abstained from voting on several US-backed resolutions against Russia in different organs of the United Nations.

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New Delhi also irked the western nations with its move to procure oil from Russia at a discounted price and exploring options to continue India-Russia bilateral trade circumventing western sanctions on the former Soviet Union nations.

The G7 agriculture ministers urged countries around the world to avoid restrictive measures that could worsen the crisis. They also opposed “export stops” and called for markets to be kept open, said Ozdemir.

Germany currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7.

The G7 agriculture ministers also recommended the issue of global wheat crisis and the need to avoid export restrictions for discussion at the summit of the bloc scheduled to be held at Schloss Elmau in Bavarian Alps from June 26 to 28.

India is not a member of the G7, which comprises Japan, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. The European Union is a ‘non-enumerated’ member of the G7.

Modi, however, has been invited to attend an outreach session the G7 leaders will hold on the sideline of the summit. The invitation was extended to him when he had a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on May 2.

If New Delhi does not ease the restrictions on export of wheat within the next four or five weeks, it may come under pressure from the G7 nations during the prime minister’s participation in the outreach event to be held on the sideline of the summit of the bloc.

Also Read | India prohibits wheat exports with immediate effect

Modi had told the United States President Joe Biden during a video conference on April 11 that India could export food grains around the world if the World Trade Organization allowed it to do so. He had apparently sought to build a case for the WTO to ease restrictions on exporting grains from the stock procured by the government agencies from the farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). But wheat production estimates for the current crop year had to be lowered in view of projected yield loss due to scorching heatwaves over the northern, western and the central regions of the country. The Modi Government finally early on Saturday banned export of wheat without its approval – a move initiated in order to ensure the food security of the nation and help lower the soaring prices of the grain in the domestic markets.