Ukraine crisis can derail global effort to end hunger: India

NEW YORK: Reiterating its call for dialogue and diplomacy, India on Monday (local time) said that if the conflict in Ukraine is not solved through talks immediately, there will be severe repercussions in the global economy which will derail the efforts of securing food security and eradicating hunger in the run-up to 2030.

Speaking at the UN Security Council high-level special event on global food security crisis, Sneha Dubey, India’s First Secretary, said that the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing conflicts including in Ukraine have impacted the lives of ordinary people adversely especially in developing countries, with spiralling energy and commodity prices and disruptions in global logistical supply chains.

“If the conflict does not give way to a meaningful path of dialogue and diplomacy immediately, there will be severe repercussions in the global economy which will derail the efforts of the Global South to secure food security and eradicate hunger in the run-up to 2030,” she said in the statement.

India has noted Secretary General’s initiative of establishing a Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance (GCRG) and appreciated his call for exempting purchases of food by WFP for humanitarian assistance from food export restrictions with immediate effect.

Highlighting the twin challenges which include rising costs and difficulty in access to food grains, the country’s First Secretary said that “even those (low-income societies) in India, who have adequate stocks, have seen an unjustified increase in food prices. It is clear that hoarding and speculation is at work. We cannot allow this to pass unchallenged.” Dubey said that the Indian Government has recognized the sudden spike in global prices of wheat which put our food security and those of our neighbours and other vulnerable countries at risk.

“We are committed to ensuring that such adverse impact on food security is effectively mitigated and the vulnerable cushioned against sudden changes in the global market,” she said further.

In order to manage our own overall food security and support the needs of neighbouring and other vulnerable developing countries, India announced some measures regarding wheat exports on May 13 this year.

Highlighting, India’s track record of helping its partners in distress, she said that even in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing conflicts, India has provided food aid in the form of thousands of metric tonnes of wheat, rice, pulses, and lentils to several countries, including our neighbourhood and Africa, to strengthen their food security.