India has proposed to Pakistan and Iran for a coordinated approach in dealing with alarming threat of fast-increasing desert locusts in the region, official sources said in Thursday.
The desert locusts are considered among the most devastating migratory pests which posed serious threat to food security in several parts of the globe, including in Africa.
The sources said India has proposed to Pakistan as well as to Iran for a coordinated response to deal with desert locust. However, Pakistan is yet to respond to India's proposal while Iran communicated its readiness for a joint approach to contain the desert locusts.
India has suggested to Pakistan that both countries coordinate locust control operation along the border and even offered to supply pesticides.
The institutionalised mechanism of locust warning organization could be energised for such cooperation, sources said sharing details of the Indian proposal.
They said India has also offered to supply pesticide to Iran to contain spread of desert locusts in its Sistan-Balochistan and South Khorasan provinces. These efforts will contribute to mitigate the effect of the Desert Locust not only in these countries, but also for India, the sources said.
"It remains to be seen if Pakistan will rise above its narrow-minded approach, as was seen in the case of India's regional initiative for dealing with COVID19, and come forward with cooperation on coordinated desert locust control operation with India," said a source.
India has an existing institutionalised mechanism with Pakistan for cooperation in containing desert locusts including border meetings between the locusts officers of the two countries.
The sources said adult groups of desert locusts are migrating to India from breeding areas in Baluchistan as well as in Punjab province of Pakistan.
In India, more adult groups and small swarms have arrived from Pakistan in the past weeks and moved east into Rajasthan, reaching Jodhpur, they said.
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