India offered to help fix the global food crisis. Here's why it backtracked

A month ago, as Russia's war in Ukraine pushed the world to the brink of a food crisis, India's prime minister Narendra Modi offered to help countries facing shortages.

"We already have enough food for our people but our farmers seem to have made arrangements to feed the world," Modi said in April. "We are ready to send the relief from tomorrow itself."

The world's second biggest producer of wheat after China was already walking the talk. In the 12 months to March, India cashed in on soaring global prices, exporting a record 7 million metric tons of the grain. That was up more than 250% on the previous year's volumes. It had also set record export targets for the coming year.