India has exported wheat to several countries including Bangladesh and Afghanistan under the ban. In total, this amount is 18 lac tonnes. The topic came up in a report in The Economic Times.
Indian Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said that India had stopped exporting wheat on 13 May. Since then, the food grain has been exported to about 12 countries, including neighbouring country Bangladesh.
On 24 June, a ministerial-level press conference was held in the German capital, Berlin, entitled ‘Uniting for Global Food Security’. He made these remarks there.
Sudhanshu Pandey said that India has always given priority to the crisis in the world. Even the duty to feed about 138 crore people was fulfilled.
The food secretary said, ‘It is necessary to explain here why India hastily banned the export of wheat. The move was necessary to keep stocks of food grains at low prices within the country and to maintain supply to the world’s poorest countries.’
He said that 18 lac tonnes of wheat had been shipped to 12 countries till 22 June this year after the ban. This was almost four times more than the wheat sent to Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Israel, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam, and Yemen last year.
