Daily Times

The warnings could not have hit more severely. A country that took great pride in overshadowing the wheat production of all of Africa put together just two decades ago has been unable to survive without imports, even on a bumper year. But now that floods of biblical proportions have slashed off at least per cent of the production target (27 million tonnes); sparking off a crisis of crippling food insecurity, there is little Pakistan can do but try making the best out of the worst possible odds.

The wheat import bill is likely to soar by another one billion dollars; tugging at the claims of sufficient reserves being touted by National Food Scarcity. Since the beginning of this year, Finance Ministry has been issuing distress signals regarding an acute shortage and therefore, the recent all-is-well mantra chants in Islamabad are posing far more discomforting questions than they aim to answer.

It is amid this first act of a terrible saga that the government of Pakistan has approved a deal to the tune of $112 million to import as many as 300,000 tonnes from Russia. Trying to cement bridges with Moscow against the backdrop of a heated world war is no small feat, even without the American ire in the mix. Therefore, bureaucratic delays have long-hampered any realisation of repeated pledges to boost trade, the latest of which was made public in Samarkand in September.

From the international legal perspective, Pakistan is in the clear as none of the agreements with the EU does not prohibit it from purchasing essentials from Russia despite its sanctions. Had that been the case, Washington would not have stood in India’s defence when it decided to purchase crude oil. And when the UN and Turkey are desperately scrambling to revive the Black Sea grain deal intended to “ease a global food crisis,” every state should be allowed the same leeway to take care of affairs of their own kitchen. How our fast-emptying treasury would be able to keep up with these skyrocketing bills is another matter of concern, grave enough to throw any committed administration off its balance. *