Agricultural policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Albert Stegemann, accused Federal Agriculture Minister Cem zdemir of diplomatic negligence.
According to CDU politicians, the minister reacted too late to the Indian government’s announcement that it would impose a wheat export ban.
According to its own statement, the federal government first became aware of India’s export ban on 13 May 2022. On 25 May, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture held a video call with the responsible representative of the agriculture department in Delhi at a technical level to explain the background, the government said in its response to written question from Stegemann.
“Megaphone Diplomacy”
He is now clearly criticizing the approach. Instead of first approaching the Indian government and using diplomatic channels to underscore the importance of free trade, especially with food, zdemir was the first to engage in “megaphone diplomacy” and publicly warn India. At the start of the talks at the technical level, the export ban had long been in effect.
“Minister zdemir should be clear that only rules-based trade can ensure that world hunger can be overcome by the Ukraine war,” Stegemann explained. It is true to criticize the export ban. But public nagging usually doesn’t help much. zdemir would be advised to seek advice from the Minister of Foreign Affairs as soon as possible on matters of international diplomacy.
