Locust Attack: India, Pakistan cooperating in fight against outbreak under FAO's forum

As the desert locust attack continues to wreak havoc in India and Pakistan, the two neighbouring countries are cooperating with each other to tackle the outbreak, Pakistan Foreign Office said on Friday. Pakistan and India are members of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in South-West Asia (SWAC).

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui informed that the ministerial meeting of the commission was held in March during which the member states decided to reactivate communication on the locust issue. A Technical and Operational Coordination (ToC) team was formed to exchange information, improve coordination at the border areas and increase synchronization to combat desert locust attacks in the region.

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Farooqui said that Pakistan had been participating in the SWAC meeting on a weekly basis."We believe that the respective technical teams have been coordinating appropriately through FAO," she added.

“Pakistan remains committed to cooperating with all SWAC member states, including India, in combating desert locust outbreak," the spokesperson said.

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India reaches out to Pakistan

Last month, India had said Pakistan has not yet responded to its suggestion for activation of a local channel to address the issue of desert locust attack.

"There is an existing local channel of communication with Pakistan. This is normally activated in June every year. Seeing the alarming situation, India suggested to activate the channel but there is no response from Pakistan yet," India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said.

New Delhi had proposed a coordinated response to tackle desert locust along the border to Pakistan and also offered to facilitate the supply of insecticide malathion to Islamabad for the same. 

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Desert locust attack

India and Pakistan are confronted with the worst locust attack in recent years. The desert locusts are known to devour everything in their path, posing a great threat to the food supply, farms and livelihoods of millions of people. Locust swarms that travelled from Pakistan entered India through Rajasthan and spread to the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh causing major damage to cotton crops and vegetables. Rajasthan is the most affected state in the country with respect to locust attacks.

READ | India Awaits Pak Response On Offer Of Coordinated Response To Control Desert Locusts Issue