India Unlikely To Take Part In Ukraine 'Grain Corridor': MEA

"As of now, I don't have intimation that we are looking to join this initiative," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. (File Photo)

Union Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday stated that India is unlikely to join Ukraine's "grain corridor," but that bilateral arrangements are in place for India to provide food grain assistance to other nations in the global south, news agency PTI reported.

Questioned about India considering joining the grain corridor, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated: "We have been extending assistance to countries from the south bilaterally. I don't have any clarity if we will join, probably not, our focus has been on bilateral south-south mechanisms."

"As of now, I don't have intimation that we are looking to join this initiative," he said.

The Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports, commonly known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, is a deal struck by Russia and Ukraine with Turkey and the United Nations (UN) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, all maritime grain exports from Ukraine, a key exporter, were halted, causing global food prices to soar.

Discussions began in April, sponsored by Turkey, which controls the Black Sea marine lanes, and supported by the UN, and an agreement was reached in Istanbul on July 22, 2022.

According to a number of sources, the Russia-Ukraine war's impact on food prices has led to an estimated 47 million people being hungry on a daily basis. Because they depend so heavily on imported grain and gasoline, developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America were among the most affected, PTI reported.

The MEA official said India has not made any policy statements on a Russian ship landing at an Indian port while it is subject to US sanctions in answer to a different query.

"This is a technical world of what is sanction, what is not.... I think our position on getting oil from wherever we can has been repeatedly articulated at various levels," Bagchi said.

"You're talking about non-oil related shipments... I don't think we have made any policy statement on this. I don't have any new policy to announce today. If it is docked in an Indian port clearly they are docking in Indian ports," he said.

(With Inputs From PTI)