India supplies 20,000 litres of pesticides to Iran to fight desert locusts menace

India on Thursday supplied the second batch of 20,000 litres of environment-friendly pesticide Malathion to Iran to fight the desert locusts menace.

The consignment reached Chabahar Port and was handed over to Plant Protection Orgsation in the Iran government.

"India supplies the second batch of 20,000 litres of environment-friendly pesticide Malathion to Iran through Chabahar Port to fight the desert locusts menace. Consignment handed over today," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava tweeted.

The desert locust is a species of locust, a swarming short-horned grasshopper. They are known to devour everything in their path, posing an unprecedented threat to the food supply and livelihoods of millions of people.

Last year, India had approached Iran and Pakistan for a coordinated regional response to the threat of approaching swarms of desert locusts.

It was in this context that Iran had requested the supply of pesticides. However, there was no response from Pakistan.

India supplied the first tranche of 20,000 litres of Malathion to Iran in June last year.

( With inputs from ANI )