“We challenge those that worry about food security: Resolve the Kashmir dispute, open the door to peace in South Asia and watch how the farmers of Pakistan and India can feed the world”, Bhutto Zardari said

India “has never been found wanting” when it came to helping countries in distress, whether it was the Covid pandemic or conflicts. “We have 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”, he said

South Asian countries faced risks from higher prices and shortages of farming inputs including fertilisers, it said. “This will probably result in weaker harvests and exert further upward pressures on food prices in the near term”, according to the WESP

India, which is the world’s second-largest wheat grower and has a big stockpile, ordered an end to most purely commercial wheat transactions, while leaving room for some exports to neighbouring countries and governments of countries in need

Giving a progress report on vaccinations, Modi said that India’s programme is the largest in the world hving fully vaccinated almost 90 per cent of the adult population, and more than 50 million children

“We've also been concerned about the recent violence against peaceful protesters, and we urge calm and restraint, as well as respect for democratic rights, including the right... the freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly”, the spokesman said

Guterres followed it up with his own statement: Today, for the first time, the Security Council spoke with one voice for peace in Ukraine.  As I have often said, the world must come together to silence the guns and uphold the values of the UN Charter”

Earlier at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi last month, Jaishankar had stated that India should engage the world on the basis of its confidence in its identity rather than trying to please the global community

Earlier this year, India began sending wheat to Afghanistan through the WFP via Pakistan after initial opposition from Islamabad. India has pledged 10 million tonnes of wheat donations to Afghanistan

Guterres' appeal comes in the wake of reports sporadic community violence across many areas in India, including capital New Delhi, as Hindu and Muslim religious festivals overlapped in the last couple of weeks