PM Modi says India ready to supply Food Stock to World if WTO gives a thumbs up
Many parts of the world are facing acute shortages of food due to ongoing wars and economic crises.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday during which they pondered upon various issues related to mutual and global interests. It was reported that during the discussion PM Modi also talked about the global food shortage which has become a worldwide calamity to a great extent owing to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the economic crisis faced by many countries such as the likes of Sri Lanka, Pakistan and various African nations.
Modi said, “Today the world is facing an uncertain situation as nobody is getting what they want. Everything from petrol and oil to fertilizer is hard to obtain as all the means are dwindling. Everybody wants to secure their stocks since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began.”
The Prime Minister said, “The world is facing a new problem now, the food stock of the world is getting empty, I was talking to the US President, and he also raised this issue. I suggested that if World Trade Organization (WTO) gives permission, India is ready to supply food stock to the world from tomorrow.” He added, “We already have enough food for our people but our farmers seem to have made arrangements to feed the world. However, we have to work according to the laws of the world, so I don’t know when WTO will give permission and we can supply food to the world.”
In what should be a proud moment for the nation after this offer from the PM, the proper distribution of the grains stored in the overflowing godowns should also be taken into cognizance as despite being self-reliant in major food production and commodities, problems of food insecurity and hunger are still present in certain sections of the country.
Even though PM Modi said, “the world is amazed to learn that India is providing free ration to nearly 80 crores of its people for over two years following the emergence of COVID-19,” a recent report suggests otherwise. As per the ‘Hunger Watch’ survey which was based on a scale developed by United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization, 79% of Indian households experienced “food insecurity” of some form in 2021. As per the survey, 25% of the families faced severe food insecurity, 23% experienced “moderate food insecurity” and 31% encountered “mild food insecurity”.
