Food and fertiliers outside the purview of sanctions, says former Bangladesh envoy to US
The general policy followed while imposing sanctions on a country includes keeping humanitarian aspects out of the sanctions, said the former Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Humayun Kabir.
"So, medicines, food and fertiliser are outside the purview of the sanctions imposed by the US on Russia," he added while speaking to The Business Standard.
This will be clear if the sanctions imposed in the last 40-50 years are reviewed.
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This is not the first ban. At different times UN sanctions, bi-lateral sanctions and regional sanctions were also imposed on different countries.
Amid a looming scarcity of wheat Russia has offered to sell 3 lakh tonnes of wheat to Bangladesh.
US State Department Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Assistant Secretary Ramin Toloui has made it clear that importing Russian food and fertiliser is not subject to US sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine.
"And the reality is that UN agencies, including the FAO, are fearing a food crisis around the world. Food crisis has already started in many countries", said Humayun Kabir adding that in practical terms, United States has made very good decision.
"However, we have to be a little careful in importing wheat and fertiliser from Russia. In this case, there would be no complication if the Western countries were brought on board before importing from Russia," said the former ambassador.
"It is important to point out to the West that Bangladesh needs wheat imports for its food security and needs fertilisers for the agricultural sector to ensure food security for the greater population of the country," he added.
For this, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture or Commerce as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will have to take integrated initiative.
The concerned ministries will hold discussions with the Russian ministries, while the foreign ministry will convey Bangladesh's needs to the West. Then there will be no scope of misunderstandings, said Humayun Kabir.
"However, our weakness is that our coordination in communicating with foreign countries is always low. So we must give importance to this", he added.
