E-Paper
India-US trade deal to spur state industry, protect farmers: Jakhar
Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday said the India-US trade agreement is in the nation’s interest and would boost the state’s industrial development and create new employment opportunities for the youth
Chandigarh : Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday said the India-US trade agreement is in the nation’s interest and would boost the state’s industrial development and create new employment opportunities for the youth.
He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “safeguarding” farmers’ interests in the deal.
Addressing a press conference here, Jakhar said that the Government of India, after careful deliberation, successfully concluded an agreement with the world’s largest economy that will promote industrial growth in the country and in Punjab, without causing any adverse impact on the nation’s farmers, especially those in Punjab. He said all crops produced in Punjab have been kept out of the agreement.
The BJP leader said that PM Modi and commerce minister Piyush Goyal finalised the agreement after prolonged discussions, with the government’s primary focus being the protection of farmers’ interests. “There will be no import from the United States of crops such as wheat, rice, maize or any other produce grown in Punjab. Similarly, full protection has been ensured for the dairy sector under this agreement,” he added.
Jakhar said leaders of the AAP and Congress should have risen above partisan politics and congratulated the government for this agreement made in the national interest, but they failed to play the role of a constructive opposition.
He added that the silence of the AAP government itself is proof that the agreement is beneficial. He appealed to those opposing the agreement not to oppose for the sake of opposition but to speak on the basis of facts.
Trade deal ‘anti-farmer, anti-national’: AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday condemned the India-US trade deal, alleging that it was an “anti-farmer” and “anti-national” agreement that will devastate Indian agriculture and push millions of farmers towards economic ruin.
AAP’s state chief spokesperson and MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that BJP leader Sunil Jakhar was celebrating the deal without understanding, or deliberately hiding, its consequences for India’s poor and marginal farmers. “Jakhar says AAP is silent. Let me make it very clear, we are not silent. We have been raising objections for the last 10 days. It is the BJP that kept the nation in the dark,” he said.
Dhaliwal pointed out that Trump repeatedly used the word ‘agriculture’ in his statements, which should alarm every Indian farmer.
Dhaliwal reiterated that this deal is against Indian farmers, is against national interest, will destroy Indian agriculture and push farmers towards bankruptcy and suicides.
