New Delhi: India will continue to safeguard the interests of farmers, and there will be no compromise on that, top government sources said on Tuesday amid speculations around the agriculture sector in the newly-announced India-US trade deal.
India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will cut the reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18 per cent from the current 25 per cent, President Trump said on Monday after a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Modi. “The Prime Minister also committed to “BUY AMERICAN,” at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 BILLION DOLLARS of U.S. Energy, Technology, Agricultural, Coal, and many other products,” Trump said on Truth Social.
India’s reluctance to open its agriculture sector to allow greater market access to American farm produce was one of the biggest sticking points between Washington and New Delhi during the trade negotiations.
Earlier today, the Congress party pointed out that there are talks of opening the agriculture sector for America under the India-US trade deal and asked, “how has the security and interests of our farmers been ensured.”
Farmers’ interests will be safeguarded
Responding to the speculations, the government sources said, “There has been no compromise on the interests of farmers. The sensitive sectors in agriculture and dairy that were protected so far will continue to be shielded.”
The sources further said that India will continue to buy crude oil from anywhere in the world where there are no sanctions, based on market rates.
“It did not buy from Venezuela when there were sanctions. Now that the sanctions have been lifted, it will buy from there,” they said.