- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
The fall in sales of the crop is expected to hit interests of both India and Canada.
By: Shubham Ghosh
IN what could be seen as a fallout of the diplomatic row between India and Canada over the murder of Khalistan separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, in June, sale of Canadian lentils has slowed down in the south Asian nation and industry experts in both countries fear that a reprisal from New Delhi could restrict trade between them.
India came up with a strong response after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau last week alleged its role in the assassination of Nijjar, designated a terrorist by New Delhi, calling the allegations absurd and motivated and even suspended issuing visas to Canadian citizens.
It was speculated that the diplomatic tussle would impact the two democracies’ trade relations, particularly after Ottawa halted talks with New Delhi over free trade agreement and its trade minister’s mission in India in October got postponed.
Coming back to the slowing down of Canadian lentils’ sale to India, the North American nation is the latter’s main import source of lentils, a protein-rich staple used to make daal, an integral part of the common Indians’ diet.
A reduced purchase of lentils would likely slash prices the Canadian farmers receive during harvest. But India would also face the impact as the move could inflate its domestic food prices, something its Narendra Modi government would not find ideal ahead of a string of state and national elections.
Nitin Gupta, a top official of Olam Agri India, one of the country’s major importers, told Reuters that the industry officials were concerned over possible trade restrictions by the governments due to the ongoing tensions.
A senior official in the Modi government said on the condition of anonymity that New Delhi holds no such plans and has not asked importers not to purchase. ‘
An official in the Canadian global affairs department also said that Ottawa is not taking any action currently that would hurt trade ties with India, the Reuters report added.
Kevin Price, a senior export merchant at Winnipeg’s crop trader Parrish & Heimbecker, told Reuters that Indian consumers bought a significant amount of Canadian lentils earlier in the year for delivery after harvest. He added that while lentil prices are high due to India’s poor crop, Canadian supplies went down by six per cent to around $770 (£634) a metric ton since Trudeau’s allegations against India.
Canada was India’s biggest supplier of lentils during India’s 2022-23 financial year with shipments of 485,492 metric tons worth $370 million (£305 million), making more than half of India’s total lentil imports, according to India’s trade ministry.
