NEW DELHI – In a positive development, Pakistan and India come together tofight the common enemy.
Pakistan and India have held five meetings in past few months, unblemishedby the public differences, in a bid to deal with a common enemy – thedeadly desert locust, *The Times of India* reportedlinkonSunday.
The coordination will continue as a locust attack of greater magnitude isforecast from June 2020 onwards, in comparison to that observed in 2019,when farmers of certain districts of Rajasthan and Gujrat confronted severedamage to their crops, the publication claimed.
“It is also predicted that invasion could occur in scheduled desert area ofIndia in June 2020 with advent of monsoon by spring-bred swarms fromsoutheast Iran, southwest Pakistan and the Horn of Africa that may be of agreater magnitude than last year,” the publication added.
The short-horned grasshopper targetted both India and Pakistan, attackingthe standing winter *(rabi)* crop before being finally controlled byJanuary.
Read Top Stories
Five meetings between the two countries were held at Munabao in India andKhokhrapar in Pakistan during June-December last year to exchangeinformation on tackling the menace.
Though Pakistan had to declare a ‘national emergency’ due to the locusts,*TOI* said India could minimise the damage by successfully checkingbreeding and forward movement of the locust.
