India ready to feed the world: Modi govt's pitch as Ukraine war triggers global food crisis

The prolonged Russia-Ukraine war has triggered a global food crisis. Can the Modi government in India rescue the world from this food crisis?

The world is staring at a food catastrophe. The commodity prices in the international market were already at a 10-year high before Russia invaded Ukraine. The prolonged Russia-Ukraine war has aggravated the world food crisis.

Russia and Ukraine are the food basket of the world, mainly Europe. They supply about one-third of the annual wheat sale globally. Additionally, they supply 55 per cent of sunflower oil and over 15 per cent of maize and barley.

The Ukraine war and consequent sanctions on Russia have disrupted the food supply chain. It has piled on the global harvest issues that were pushing the prices before the war began.

Now, as the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (UNFAO) has put it, the commodity prices have jumped to their highest since 1990, another turbulent year due to various reasons including the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Gulf tension and almost economic default by India.

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Thirty-two years down the line, the question is, can India rescue the world from this food crisis?

This was one of the highlights when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden spoke earlier this month. And now, Sneha Dubey, India's first secretary at the UN, has said at the UN Security Council Arria-Formula meeting on Conflict and Hunger.