Foreign minister S Jaishankar has warned that the world is facing a major food crisis that has been sparked by global unrest. It will be compounded by super El Nino, the natural climate pattern that warms ocean waters and causes severe ripple effects including on rainfall and therefore food production. This, coupled with the energy crisis is going to put many nations under considerable pressure. Then, without naming US or Russia, he said those responsible for bringing about this situation cannot brush it off by saying that it was not intended.
"I think policymakers cannot say that was not intended," Jaishankar said at an event organised by the Asia Society in New York. "They (the policymakers) have a responsibility to apply themselves to the situation of other countries as well and try to understand what the consequences of their decision will have on the rest of the world. Countries should not be so self-centered that you're in your own world and take your decision and say, "Well, it was not my intention to make your life difficult."
The ripple effects of the Ukraine conflict and the Iran-Gulf crisis are already resonating heavily far beyond the borders of the nations directly involved, Jaishankar said. The food crisis, he indicated, is already brewing because of certain ongoing factors.
"Some of the major grain exporters will be unable to send out their shipments, particularly out of the Black Sea. There are significant fertilizer shortages - both because the key producers have been in the Middle East and Russia," the minister said.
And this comes on top of an energy crisis and considerable economic strain - "because every time there's a conflict, money moves towards safe havens and away from the Global South".
So the net result, he said, "has been really very, very stressful".
Nations - especially developing ones - are confronting challenges in multiple area including food, fuel, fertilisers, and finance and can now find themselves left with minimal fiscal buffer to absorb further volatility, he added.
