2024-03-01 13:24:55
Abu Dhabi: Thailand’s ambassador to WTO had made controversial remarks regarding India’s rice procurement program. India had lodged a strong protest on this. After this Thailand has removed him. A top government official gave this information on Friday. Thai Ambassador Pimchanok Wonkorpon Pitfield has been asked to return to Thailand from the World Trade Organization (WTO) 13th Ministerial Conference (MC-13), the official said. It is being told that the Foreign Secretary of Thailand has taken his place. Ministerial talks have entered the fifth day.
What did Pitfield say?
The official said India had expressed deep disappointment over Pitfield’s comments during a consultation meeting on Tuesday. He had accused India that the program of purchasing rice at Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the public distribution system is not for the people, but to capture the export market.
After this, India formally lodged its protest with the Thailand government and also expressed its displeasure towards the WTO chief, Agriculture Committee chief Kenya and UAE.
The official said, ‘Thailand’s ambassador has been replaced. He has made a mockery of India’s PSH (Public Storage) programme. He said that the language and behavior of the Thai ambassador was not good. After registering their protest on the issue, the Indian negotiators had also refused to participate in the groups where Thai representatives were present.
Presented wrong facts to the world
The government official said his facts were wrong because the government purchases only 40 percent of the paddy crop to meet food security commitments. The remaining portion is not purchased by government-owned agencies and is exported from India at market prices, he said.
Like India, Thailand is also a major rice exporting country. At various forums, some developed and developing countries have alleged that public stockpiling of commodities like rice by India distorts prices in the global market. India was the world’s largest rice exporter from 2018 to 2022. After that there were Thailand and Vietnam.