Pakistan yet to respond on Indian suggestion on jointly dealing with locust crisis

Date:06-09-2020

Pakistan is yet to respond to New Delhi's suggestion on jointly dealing with the locust crisis. This comes even as Islamabad has claimed that it cooperating with regional countries including India to deal with the crisis that can majorly impact the food security in the region.

Indian Government sources said, "we have not heard anything to our proposal for coordinated locust control operations along the border and even to facilitate supply of pesticide."

Earlier today, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Aisha Farooqui, in response to the question Indian offer to jointly deal with locust crisis said India is "cooperating with all regional countries to fight desert locust invasion under a forum administered by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)...SWAC - Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in Southwest Asia"

Adding, "Pakistan remains committed to cooperating with all SWAC member states, including India, in combating Desert Locust outbreak" and "The cooperation is “fruitful” in exchanging information in the bordering areas of Pakistan and India."

Sources reacting to it said, "Seems it is usual issue of saying something and do something else. They remain reticent. Seems they want to underplay the problem that is there in Pakistan."

India and Iran are already cooperating to deal with the crisis with New Delhi supplying with pesticide. The 2019–20 locust infestation has impacted more than 10 countries in Africa and South Asia and Iran, India and Pakistan are currently affected by the crisis.