NEW DELHI, July 7. /TASS/. Despite the fact that India is not an active participant in the global grain market, the country considers it expedient to extend the grain deal, a senior official at the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare told TASS.

"Since 2017, India has been pursuing a national policy aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in grain and legumes, as well as supporting farmers. In addition, since 2018, we have almost completely stopped importing wheat and legumes. There are only a few exceptions. However, we believe that the grain deal is important because the shortage of grain and rising grain prices on world markets have a negative impact on the countries of the Global South," the source said, adding that before the strict restrictions on grain imports, the country's largest wheat suppliers were the United States, Canada, Russia and Ukraine.

At the same time, the source said, India has been considering for several weeks the idea of buying a certain amount of grain from overseas this year, as the harvest is expected to be smaller than usual due to unfavorable weather conditions.

Meanwhile, Russia cannot provide an optimistic assessment for prospects of grain deal extension, official spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said earlier on Thursday. "Main parameters provided for in the [grain] deal do not work. Therefore, nothing can be said about the optimism," the diplomat said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said earlier that Russia currently sees no reasons that would support extending the grain deal.

On July 22, 2022, a package of documents on the supply of food and fertilizers to the international market was signed in Istanbul. Initially, the agreements were concluded for 120 days, in November of last year they were extended for the same period. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced a 60-day extension of the deal, warning that this would be enough time to evaluate the implementation of the memorandum signed with the UN. On May 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the grain deal had been extended for two months starting May 18.