India has assured the Maldives that the country will receive onions, under the existing trade agreement, even though it is not listed as a country exempt from India’s current onion export ban.
An Indian official speaking to local media said that Maldives will receive onions as per the quota stipulated under the trade agreement between the two countries, while Indian media had earlier reported that the Maldives was not on the list of countries exempt from the ban.
The official said there would be no difficulties in obtaining onions under the quota allocated to the Maldives under the agreement.
The trade agreement between the Maldives and India was last renewed in 2021 and expires this year.
Under the agreement onions, rice, sugar, flour, eggs, and potatoes, as well as stone and gravel, will be supplied to the Maldives within a specified quota until the end of the year.
India has temporarily banned onion exports from the country until next month, while a special quota has recently been allotted to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bahrain, Bhutan and Nepal.
India has, traditionally, continued to provide special quotas for neighbouring countries, based on requests, through similar export bans.