India urges China to drop rapeseed meal import ban amid U.S.-China trade row :sources

BEIJING/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India urged China to drop a years-long ban on rapeseed meal imports from the South Asian nation in a meeting with government officials and feedmakers on Wednesday as it aims to boost sales of critical farm goods amid growing U.S.-China trade tensions.

India gathered officials and industry representatives at its embassy in Beijing to lobby for China to resume purchases of rapeseed meal, a key ingredient in animal feed, and to drum up interest in the country's other major agricultural products, according to an Indian government officials familiar with the meeting and an executive who attended the meeting.

China was the biggest buyer of Indian rapeseed meal until Beijing banned the purchases in late 2011 over quality concerns.

(Reporting by Hallie Gu in BEIJING and Mayank Bhardwaj in NEW DELHI; Writing by Josephine Mason in BEIJING; Editing by Tom Hogue)