The White House has sought to clarify
President George W Bush's remarks blaming India for the surge in global food prices, which evoked wide protest from politicians in India.
"We think it is a good thing that countries are developing, that more and more people have higher and higher standards of living," Deputy White House Press Secretary Scott Stanzel said in reply to a question in Washington on Monday.
Bush, in his speech, had said there were 350 million people in India who were classified as the middle class. "That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population. And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up," he had said.
The White House official said, "The point I think is that as you increase your standard of living, the food that you eat can venture more into meats that