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AAP slams Centre over India-US trade deal, warns of threat to farm economy
Punjab is a farming state. If this deal is implemented, what will happen to our wheat belt, our cotton belt, our dairy farmers, and our own fish markets, questioned AAP’s Punjab chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday slammed the BJP-led central government over the “trade deal” with the United States, claiming that agreement would destroy the agriculture economy of the country.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, AAP’s Punjab chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not shared the details of the deal, which were being revealed by US President Donald Trump on social media. “What deal has been struck behind closed doors, and why is it being hidden from the nation?” he asked. He claimed that the BJP is preparing to open India’s markets for American agricultural goods at zero tax, calling it “surrender”.
Dhaliwal asked BJP’s Punjab leadership about their silence on the issue. “Punjab is a farming state. If this deal is implemented, what will happen to our wheat belt, our cotton belt, our dairy farmers, and our own fish markets?” he asked, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must immediately disclose the full agreement in the Lok Sabha.
SKM warns of fresh protests
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) condemned Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal’s claim that India’s “sensitive sectors of agriculture and dairy have been excluded” from the proposed US-India trade deal.
In a statement, the farmers’ body said the trade agreement had already been announced by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media on February 2, calling the minister’s assertion misleading.
The SKM warned that the country would witness a repeat of the 2020-21 farmers’ agitation if any agricultural or dairy products were included in the deal.
The morcha also pointed to what it described as contradictions between Goyal’s statement and remarks made by US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins. According to the SKM, Rollins has said the agreement would enable the US to export more American farm products to India’s large market, boost prices, and help reduce the US’s $1.3 billion agricultural trade deficit with India. The SKM noted that the commerce minister had not objected to these claims.
Further, the farmers’ body alleged that the trade deal targets India’s system of government procurement, minimum support price (MSP), and agricultural subsidies by branding them as trade-distorting measures.
