Black Sea grain deal: "India hopes for early resolution, need to address...," says MEA

New Delhi [India], July 20 (ANI): After Russia terminated the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative — a UN-brokered deal that allowed food exports from Ukraine, India on Thursday expressed hope for an early resolution to the present impasse while calling the need to address the food fertilizer and fuel challenges that is affecting developing countries.
Moscow terminated the Black Sea Initiative including the withdrawal of Russian security guarantees for navigation in the North-Western part of the Black Sea.
The signing of the Black Sea Grain Deal initiative at the United Nations was welcome by India, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, adding that India had highlighted the need to address the food, fertiliser, and fuel challenges that affected the developing nations.
Bagchi on Thursday said, "We have been highlighting the need to address the food fertilizer and fuel challenges that is affecting developing countries due to the conflict in Ukraine. Our permanent representative at the UN in New York made a statement which I just referred to. India had welcomed the signing and subsequent extensions of this UN facilitated Black Sea Grain agreement or deal, and the fertilizer package that went with it. We supported that."
"We have supported the efforts of the UN Secretary General in continuing this Black Sea Grain initiative. And I know that the deal was discontinued by Russian side and we hope for an early resolution to the present impasse, for the moment. And as I said, we hope that there will be an early solution to it," he added. 
On Monday, Russia announced that it suspended its involvement in an agreement with Ukraine that has enabled both countries to continue exporting grain amid Russia's ongoing invasion of the neighboring nation, as per CNN.
The agreement, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022, was officially set to expire at 5 pm on Monday (midnight local time in Istanbul, Kyiv, and Moscow).
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday told reporters that Russia would not renew the pact right now, saying it “has been terminated.”
Russia has for some time complained that it is being prevented from adequately exporting its own foodstuffs, and Peskov cited the objection as the reason for pulling out of the deal.
After the Russia announced the cancellation of the deal, the UN Security Council members criticised it. Russia issued a warning that safe navigation at the Black Sea can no longer be guaranteed, NHK reported.
The ministerial meeting on Ukraine started soon after Russia made its decision to halt the agreement. The deal gave Kyiv permission to transport grain over the Black Sea.
"The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest terms Russia’s decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative," UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in the press release.
"Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine has obstructed the free flow of grain and other foodstuffs through the Black Sea, causing worldwide suffering. We urge Russia to re-join the initiative, which was developed by the UN in 2022, and allow the unimpeded export of grain," he added.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Takei Shunsuke, criticised Russia. He said that Moscow is “taking the rest of the world hostage.”
Ghana’s UN Ambassador Harold Agyeman highlighted the need of managing “the adverse impact of the war in Ukraine on third states.” Ghana is among the countries that are facing the risk of a food shortage.
Accusing Russia of “blackmailing the world,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged all UN member states to sternly demand that Russia return to the Black Sea grain initiative, according to NHK. (ANI)