The Maldives government has reported that part of a consignment of sugar imported from India under a special provision has gone missing.

The consignment was part of a bilateral agreement, and investigations have been launched to understand the circumstances surrounding the disappearance.

According to officials from the State Trading Organization (STO), there are allegations that some of the sugar, which was supposed to reach the Maldives, instead ended up in Sri Lanka. An investigation into this matter is also ongoing in Sri Lanka.

This situation has raised concerns about a potential sugar shortage in the Maldives. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in India has also started an inquiry into the issue, and as a result, the export of sugar to the Maldives has been temporarily halted. This halt in exports could lead to a crisis in sugar availability in the Maldives.

India had allocated 64,494.33 tonnes of sugar to the Maldives to meet its domestic needs, and shipments had already begun from several ports in India, including Mundra, Tuticorin, and Nhava Sheva, as well as the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Tughlakabad.

Despite a ban on the commercial export of sugar from India since June 2023, shipments for government-approved exports, such as those to the Maldives, were still allowed.

Along with sugar, the Maldives had also been permitted to import other essential food products under the same arrangement.