U.K.: Cameron to discuss mango ban with next Indian PM - FreshFruitPortal.com

U.K.: Cameron to discuss mango ban with next Indian PM

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U.K.: Cameron to discuss mango ban with next Indian PM

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has promised he will discuss the EU Indian mango ban during talks with whoever will be elected as India's next prime minister.

David Cameron hosted a reception to celebrate Vaisakhi on 7 April 2014. Photo: The Prime Minister's Office, via Flickr Creative Commons

David Cameron hosted a reception to celebrate Vaisakhi on 7 April 2014. Photo: The Prime Minister's Office, via Flickr Creative Commons

Currently Indian polls remain open to gather votes in the largest general election of its kind in the world. The first phase of polling started on April 7, the last will be held on May 12 and votes will be counted on May 16.

Cameron is due to have talks with the new Indian prime minister, who will replace Manmohan Singh, to discuss the ban on EU imports of Indian mangoes and four other vegetables that came into force on May 1 and is due to last until December 2015.

India's prime minister will be announced and his British counterpart Cameron is due to have talks regarding the ban on EU imports of Indian mangoes which came into force on May 1 and is due to last until December 2015.

Such discussions may be more complicated if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power, as the Times of India reported that its president Rajnath Singh promised on Sunday to ban apple imports. Such a move could jeopardize India's horticultural trade with a range of nations, including the U.S., China, Chile and New Zealand.

Leicester East MP Keith Vaz is leading a political campaign to reverse the mango ban and he brought up the issue during Wednesdayā€™s Prime Ministerā€™s Questions, a constitutional convention where sitting members (MPs) ask the countryā€™s leader questions during a 30-minute session held weekly.

According to BBC News, just a few hours ago Vaz asked the PM: ā€œ"here was no consultation with this house and no vote by British ministersā€¦Will he (Cameron) do his best to reverse the ban so we can keep the special relationship with India which his predecessors and he have worked so hard to maintain, and so we can have our delicious mangoes once again?"

Vaz, along with Monica Bhandari from Fruity Fresh, a family-run business in Leicester, delivered a box of Alphonso mangoes to Downing Street, Cameronā€™s official London residence, last week to draw attention to what has become a very controversial debate.

"The European Union has to look on the basis of the science and the evidence and there are concerns about particular cross contamination in terms of British crops and British interests so we have to make that that is got right [sic]," Cameron responded, according to the BBC.

"But I understand how strongly he feels and how strongly the Indian community in this country feels and indeed I look forward to discussing it with the new Indian prime minister."

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