Collaboration between India and UK on Food Security | 22 Jan 2022

Why in News

Recently, the Union Minister of Science & Technology addressed the joint India-UK meet on “Sustaining Food Production under Environmental Stress” and called for collaboration between the two nations on issues of mutual concern like achieving the goals of Food Security and Zero Hunger.

Key Points

• Call for Global Collaborations in Various Fields:
  • India and the UK must invite global collaborations in various dimensions of science like agriculture, medicine, food, pharma, engineering or defence.
  • India-UK joint collaboration may include programmes like student exchange, basic research, technology development, product development as well as product/process demonstration and their implementation in joint collaboration.
• Issue of Shrinking Arable Land:
  • Dwelling on the issue of Sustainable Food Production, the South Asian region is facing the shrinking arable land, besides the problem of Global Climate Change that needs to be addressed.
    • Arable land in South Asia was reported at 43.18% in 2018 which has been stagnant since the early 1970s and recently declining.
  • Growth yields and more intensive use of land will account for all of the growth in crop production and will also compensate for losses in the arable land area.
• Improving Quality of Nutritional Foods:
  • NABI (National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute) could provide an impetus to the nations need for addressing nutritional security even under the climatic changes happening around the world.
    • NABI is a premier institute that works at the interface of Agri-Food and Nutrition Biotechnology.
• Joint Funding to Address the Challenges:
  • Underlining that the global pattern of food production and distribution may need to shift significantly as climate change progresses.
  • Need of joint funding to develop a coherent and stakeholder-relevant R&D (Research and Development) program that will address this challenge.

India-UK Partnership

• About:
  • India and the UK are vibrant democracies, with a partnership built on our shared history and rich culture.
  • The diverse Indian diaspora in the UK, which acts as a “Living Bridge”, adds further dynamism to the relations between the two countries.
  • The UK is one of the largest investors in India, among the G20 countries.
  • Recently, both countries have announced their intent to negotiate a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA), including consideration of an interim trade agreement to deliver early gains.
  • As part of the UK’s tilt towards the Indo-Pacific region, the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is conducting engagements with Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Japan and India.
• Roadmap 2030:
  • For elevating bilateral ties to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” both Countries adopted Roadmap 2030 in 2021.
  • It provides a framework for UK-India relations across health, climate, trade, education, science and technology, and defense.
• Security & Defence:
  • Cooperation on Maritime Domain Awareness:
    • Includes invitation to the UK to join India’s Information Fusion Centre in Gurgaon and an ambitious exercise programme which includes joint trilateral exercises.
  • Light Combat Aircraft Mark 2:
    • Support India’s indigenous development of the Light Combat Aircraft Mark 2.
  • Exercises:
    • Air Force Exercise ‘Indradhanush’.
    • Navy Exercise Konkan.
    • Army Exercise ‘Ajeya Warrior’
• Climate Change:
  • India and the UK jointly launched a new flagship international initiative at the COP26 World Leaders' Summit in Glasgow, backed by over 80 countries, to dramatically accelerate the global transition to a clean powered world.
  • The new initiative, called ‘Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid’ (GGI-OSOWOG), is aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of interconnected electricity grids across continents, countries and communities, and improve energy access of the poorest through mini-grids and off-grid solutions.

Source: PIB