India has offered Pakistan and Iran a coordinated approach to tackle the locust problem
New Delhi:
Pakistan has refused to join a technical-level meeting with India to discuss the locust threat issue, Foreign Affairs said on Thursday criticizing Islamabad for “reluctant attitude” even when its own people are threatened food security.
MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that in May India took the initiative to launch an appeal to intensify contacts between locust alert organizations in the two countries. These contacts have taken place over the past 60 years, he said.
“We thought this was important following the threat posed by locusts and we even offered coordinated locust operations in Pakistan. We also offered to facilitate the supply of pesticides for locust operations,” said said the spokesperson.
India has already delivered 20,000 liters of pesticides to Iran for locust control operations, said Srivastava.
“According to the information available, the Pakistani side refused to join this meeting (at the technical level) and this meeting should be held today,” he said.
“We find it regrettable that Pakistan retains its reluctant attitude even when its own people are threatened with food security,” he added.
India has offered Pakistan and Iran a coordinated approach to address the alarming threat of the rapidly increasing locusts in the region.
