Farmers' children and Lucky Ali meet Kalam

Ali and the children requested the President to protect the interests of lakhs of poor and marginalised farmers at the WTO meeting.

A group of farmers' children along with singer Lucky Ali on Friday met President APJ Abdul Kalam and requested him to protect the interests of lakhs of poor and marginalised farmers at the WTO meeting.

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Ali, a farmer himself and an envoy of Oxfam International's 'Make Trade Fair' campaign, and the children submitted a memorandum to the President in this regard.

"We appeal to you to make sure that India safeguards the interests of its 650 million poor farmers at the WTO," Ali was quoted in a release as saying.

"This campaign is meant to change the skewed global trade rule where rich countries are forcing developing countries to open the markets but are protecting their own markets, Palash Kanti Das, Oxfam's trade police Advisor, said.