PM Modi blinks on farm laws before attending democracy meet convened by Joe Biden

Biden had stressed on defending democratic norms in his first phone-call to Modi after taking over as the US President

After drawing flak from foreign celebrities, activists and lawmakers for his government's crackdown on farmers protesting against the new agricultural laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi blinked on Friday – just weeks before he is likely to take part in a “Summit for Democracy” convened by the United States President Joe Biden.

The Prime Minister announced the decision to repeal the three farm laws after his government had to counter criticism for months over its way of dealing with the protesting farmers – not only from the celebrities like Rihanna and Mia Khalifa, activists like Meena Harris – niece of American Vice President Kamala Harris – and climate crusader Greta Thunberg, but also from lawmakers in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi and the diplomatic missions in the foreign capitals had to respond to condemnation over police action on protesting farmers, just as they had to counter criticism against the Modi government over allegations of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the new Citizenship Amendment Act and the process of updating the National Register of Citizens in Assam.

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Seven members of the United States Congress in December 2020 had written to Biden's predecessor Donald Trump’s administration, expressing “serious concerns” over what they had called “civil unrest” in India. Soon after Biden had taken over the Oval Office in White House on January 20, the US State Department had subtly criticised the way the Modi government had dealt with the ongoing protest by the farmers against the new agricultural laws.

Biden, himself, had stressed on defending democratic norms in his first phone-call to Modi after taking over as the US President.

Modi in fact chose to announce his decision to withdraw the farm laws just weeks before he would join Biden and other world leaders for a virtual “Summit for Democracy”, which the US President would chair on December 9 and 10.

The Biden Administration has been over the past few months tacitly conveying to the Modi government concerns in the US over the perception that India has been backsliding on democratic principles, human rights and freedom of speech and religion.

The government had on March 9 summoned the British High Commissioner in New Delhi, Alex Ellis, to the MEA and served him a démarche, protesting against a discussion in the UK's Parliament on protest by the farmers in India. Thirty-six members of the UK's Parliament had earlier written to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and asked him to take up the issue with the Modi government. A large number of protesters – mostly British Sikhs – from across the UK had assembled on the road in front of the High Commission of India in London on December 6 last year to express solidarity with agitating farmers.

New Delhi's relations with Ottawa had also come under stress after Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, had used his message on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak last year to express concern over the protest by the farmers in India. Several Sikh ministers in the Canadian government too tweeted criticising police actions against the agitating farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. The Modi government had summoned Ottawa's envoy to New Delhi, Nadir Patel, to the MEA to warned him about the serious damage the bilateral relations could suffer if Trudeau and other leaders of the nation continue to make comments on agitation by the farmers in India.

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