BRICS must pursue peace

The BRICS Summit in New Delhi needs to be more aspirational than merely a forum for geopolitical positioning. Amid two major ongoing wars, India should leverage its BRICS presidency to demonstrate to the world that the Global South can also contribute to conflict resolution and peacebuilding. India uniquely enjoys cordial relations with all the countries in the grouping, giving it a strategic diplomatic space that many other BRICS members do not possess. As a result, India has acquired considerable diplomatic strengths. Its bilateral meetings with the leaders of countries directly involved in the conflicts can be proactively utilised to build consensus around peace and dialogue.

India can also vociferously reiterate the position it articulated at the Bishkek SCO Summit last month: there should be no “endless wars”, but certainly an “end to the wars”.

G. Ramasubramanyam,

Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh

Undermining democracy

United States President Donald Trump’s ‘promise’ to give $5,000 to adult voters if his party wins the election is a worrying development for democracy (‘World’ page, September 11). The scheme strongly resembles India’s own “freebie culture”, in which political parties promise cash and consumer goods to win votes. Seeing the world’s oldest democracy adopt a similar strategy shows that vote-buying is becoming a global concern. Elections should be about sound policies and long-term vision, not the use of public money to buy votes.

Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,

Hyderabad

Need for fruit safety

I wish to draw attention to a concern that many of us may have noticed in our fruit markets — the way bananas are sometimes artificially ripened.

A banana may look perfectly ripe from the outside. Yet, in my experience, the familiar fragrance of a naturally ripened banana is often absent, along with some of the sweetness and flavour we normally associate with it. Artificial ripening itself is not the issue. When done scientifically, using approved methods, it is a legitimate practice. The concern is the use of prohibited substances to speed up the process, apparently for quicker turnover and higher profits. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) prohibits the use of calcium carbide, popularly known as “masala”, for the artificial ripening of fruits. Ethylene, on the other hand, is an approved ripening agent. State food-safety authorities and the FSSAI should continue to keep a close watch on fruit markets, storage facilities, wholesalers and ripening premises, particularly where the use of prohibited ripening agents is suspected. Consumers, too, have a meaningful role to play.

Radhakrishna Prasad B.R.,

Bengaluru