THIMPHU : Bhutan has requested India to allow rice export to the country after India banned overseas shipments of non-basmati rice, causing global rice prices to rise. Bhutan has made a diplomatic request for rice shipments of up to 90,000 tonnes. India’s rice ban allows for exemptions for export under Government-to-Government deals and in cases of requests made by “friendly countries” with genuine food-security needs. India’s share in global rice exports is nearly 40%.

Bhutan has requested India to allow rice export to the Himalayan kingdom, following India’s July 20 ban on overseas shipments of non-basmati varieties of the grain, a person aware of the matter has said. India’s decision has sent global rice prices soaring.

The world’s biggest rice exporter imposed the ban over growing concerns of El Nino, a weather pattern whose effects ripple around the globe, affecting the Indian monsoon and hitting rice output, and Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s grain shipments.

Bhutan has made a diplomatic request to India for rice shipments of up to 90,000 tonnes, the person said. Global prices have hit a 12-year high following India’s ban. The FAO’s All-Rice Price Index leapt 129.7 points in July 2023, up 19.6% from a year ago. India’s share in global rice exports is nearly 40%.

India’s rice ban allows for exemptions for export under conditional government-to-government deals and in case of requests made by “friendly countries” which have genuine food-security needs, the person cited above said. The same relaxations also apply to the wheat-export ban instituted in May 2022.