Egyptian Delegation to Visit India to Discuss Wheat Imports

A combine deposits harvested wheat in a tractor trolley at a field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, March 16, 2022. (Reuters)
A combine deposits harvested wheat in a tractor trolley at a field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, March 16, 2022. (Reuters)
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Egyptian Delegation to Visit India to Discuss Wheat Imports

A combine deposits harvested wheat in a tractor trolley at a field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, March 16, 2022. (Reuters)
A combine deposits harvested wheat in a tractor trolley at a field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, March 16, 2022. (Reuters)

A delegation from Egypt will visit India in the first week of April to facilitate wheat imports as part of efforts to secure supplies and tide over shortages at one of the world's biggest importers of the staple, Indian government sources said.

Egypt, often the world's biggest wheat importer, is reeling from a surge in bread and flour prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine closed off access to lower-priced Black Sea wheat.

India, the world's second biggest wheat producer, has emerged as a leading supplier of the grain to a host of countries that are struggling with cargo disruptions and sky-high grain prices in the wake of the crisis in the Black Sea region.

Although Egypt has been a traditional buyer of Russian and Ukrainian wheat, India is willing to help Cairo by supplying the grain, said the sources, who didn't wish to be identified in line with official rules.

Egypt could buy up to 12 million tons of Indian wheat, they said.

The Egyptian delegation would meet potential Indian buyers, examine logistical and other issues and assess various grades and quality of Indian wheat, the sources said.

"India is in a position to supply top quality wheat to Egypt and meet Egypt's quality and other requirements," said one of the sources.

On Tuesday, Piyush Goyal, India's Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution said he met Hala Elsaid, Egypt's Minister for Planning and Economic Development in Dubai and discussed New Delhi's "readiness to supply high-quality wheat" to Cairo.

One of India's state-run export promotion bodies would assist the Egyptian delegation, the sources said.

On Monday, Egypt's Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said Cairo was counting on France to secure some supplies of basic commodities like wheat.

On March 24, Egyptian Supply Minister Ali Moselhy said Egypt is in talks with Argentina, India, France and the United States for future wheat imports but is in no rush to buy at the moment.

He said Indian suppliers would still have to seek accreditation from state buyer the General Authority for Supply Commodities.

Earlier this month Egypt set a fixed price for unsubsidized bread to battle a sharp rise in bread prices that jumped 25% to 1.25 Egyptian pounds ($0.07) per loaf in some bakeries.



US Envoy Reaffirms Backing for Damascus, Rules Out ‘Plan B’

US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, arrives for a meeting with the Lebanese prime minister at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 07 July 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, arrives for a meeting with the Lebanese prime minister at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 07 July 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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US Envoy Reaffirms Backing for Damascus, Rules Out ‘Plan B’

US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, arrives for a meeting with the Lebanese prime minister at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 07 July 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, arrives for a meeting with the Lebanese prime minister at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 07 July 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

The United States will keep backing Syria’s government and has no “Plan B” to working with it to unite the war‑scarred country back together, still reeling from years of civil war and wracked by new sectarian violence, US envoy Tom Barrack said on Monday.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Barrack – Washington’s ambassador to Türkiye and special envoy for Syria, who is also on a short assignment in Lebanon – called last week’s Israeli strikes inside Syria “badly timed” and said they had “complicated efforts to stabilize the region.”

Barrack spoke in Beirut after more than a week of clashes in Sweida province between Druze militiamen and Sunni Bedouin tribes.

Over the weekend he brokered what he described as a limited ceasefire between Syria and Israel, aimed only at halting the fighting in Sweida. Syrian government troops have since redeployed in the area and evacuated civilians from both communities on Monday, he said.

Barrack told the AP that “the killing, the revenge, the massacres on both sides” are “intolerable,” but that “the current government of Syria, in my opinion, has conducted themselves as best they can as a nascent government with very few resources to address the multiplicity of issues that arise in trying to bring a diverse society together.”

Regarding Israel’s strikes on Syria, Barrack said: “The United States was not asked, nor did they participate in that decision, nor was it the United States’ responsibility in matters that Israel feels is for its own self-defense.”

However, he said Israel’s intervention “creates another very confusing chapter” and “came at a very bad time.”

Prior to the violence in Sweida, Israel and Syria had been in talks over security matters, while the Trump administration had been pushing them to move toward full normalization of diplomatic relations.

When the latest fighting erupted, “Israel’s view was that south of Damascus was this questionable zone, so that whatever happened militarily in that zone needed to be agreed upon and discussed with them,” Barrack said. “The new government (in Syria) coming in was not exactly of that belief.”

The ceasefire announced Saturday between Syria and Israel is a limited agreement addressing only the conflict in Sweida, he said. It does not address broader issues including Israel’s contention that the area south of Damascus should be a demilitarized zone.

In the discussions leading up to the ceasefire, Barrack said “both sides did the best they can” to reach agreement on specific questions related to the movement of Syrian forces and equipment from Damascus to Sweida.

He suggested that Israel would prefer to see Syria fragmented and divided rather than a strong central state in control of the country.

Later Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz posted on X that Israel’s strikes “were the only way to stop the massacre of the Druze in Syria, the brothers of our brothers the Israeli Druze”.

Katz added: “Anyone who criticizes the attacks is unaware of the facts,” he continued. It was not clear if he was responding to Barrack’s comments.

Damascus has been negotiating with the Kurdish forces that control much of northeast Syria to implement an agreement that would merge the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces with the new national army.