By IANS
Dhaka : India’s decision to export 500,000 tonnes of rice to cyclone-hit Bangladesh despite scarcity at home is “a thoughtful gesture,” a newspaper said Monday.
“Production in major rice exporting countries in the world has been low this year. As a result, many such countries, including India, had imposed export restrictions on rice to be able to meet their own deficits.
“The scarcity of rice reached such a state that even with enough cash a country has had difficulty buying it. Set against the backdrop of two successive floods and cyclone Sidr, the projected rice deficit up to June was 3.1 million tones,” The Daily Star noted in an editorial.
“Until Nov 3, the government and private sector had imported 1.2 million tonnes, leaving a deficit of 1.9 million tonnes to be met by import or food grants. The WFP has plans to feed 2.2 million of the affected people for six months. The donor community was, however, willing to pay cash to buy rice rather than provide cereals in outright grants.
“In such a complicated situation, Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s announcement in Dhaka that India would export 500,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh comes as a markedly significant gesture of goodwill and friendliness,” the newspaper said.
India had already waived rice export restrictions for Bangladesh by providing the country 70,000 tonnes as immediate post-cyclone relief. The promised Indian consignment of an additional 500,000 tonnes would be exported at cost price.