Farmers' coalition threatens to intensify agitation if India signs any trade deal with the US

A pan-India farmers' coalition has threatened to intensify its agitation against the Modi government if India sign any free trade agreement or trade deal involving agriculture sector with the US ignoring farmers interest.

Raising their concerns on the issue in a letter to Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Giriraj Singh, Indian Coordination Committee for Farmers’ Movements (ICCFM) on Monday demanded that India should first resolve the outstanding issues with the US at the WTO which include the US' position on agricultural subsidies that challenge India’s subsidies to our farmers.

“India is bending over backwards to appease the visiting American President (Donald Trump) despite the fact that just a few days ago, on February 10, the US administration kicked India out from its list of countries that are classified as 'developing' for trade purposes,” the farmers' coalition said.

Classification of India by the US as a “developed” country does not only strips benefits for India in the international trade, but also puts into question even the “meagre input and other subsidies” being provided by the government of India to our farmers.

“To us, this appears to be an all-out war that America has declared on India and its farmers, even as our government is laying out the red carpet for Trump. We are urging you not to go ahead with any trade deal with the US that involves agriculture and that threatens our farm livelihoods, and not to initiate any free trade agreement either,” the farmers' coalition added.