<span style="color: #222222;">Top diplomats from a dozen foreign missions in China, experts from Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), China and World Food Programme (WFP), China and nutrition experts have lauded India's initiative to declare the year 2023 as the 'International Year of Millets (IYM)'. At a millet roundtable event organised by the Indian Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday, the experts shared the heritage associated with millet grains, especially in Asian and African countries and their relevance in the current scenario including their economic, environmental and nutritional benefits.<br />''<br />''India's Ambassador to China, Pradeep Rawat launched a bilingual recipe book "Let's Millet" during the event and spoke about the significance of these resilient crops and how they are of great value in the face of the climate crisis and food security issues. On the occasion, an original song, "let's begin with millets" was performed by iStrings, a fusion band consisting of the Indian diaspora and friends of India, to a great response from the audience.<br />''<br />''The roundtable discussion was moderated by Prasar Bharati Special Correspondent in Beijing which engaged the audience in a stimulating conversation on the essentiality of millet in achieving food security and nutritional sufficiency and tackling the climate crisis. <br />''<br />''The expert panel comprised Dr. Dong Le, Program Officer, FAO, China, Dr. Yan Jia, Head of South-South Cooperation, WFP, China and Ms. Liu Suiqian – a nutritionist from Beijing's top private hospital – Beijing United Hospital.</span><br />