SKM sees red over India-US trade deal accuses govt of betraying farmers

New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of various farmer unions, slammed the government over the India-US trade deal for its "historic betrayal" with farmers and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "shamelessly bowing to the diktats of Donald Trump".
    In a statement, it reminded the prime minister of his Independence Day speech last year, saying Modi had declared from the ramparts of the Red Fort that "he was personally ready to pay a heavy price to protect the interests of the farmers".
    The farmers' body claimed the deal will allow the US to flood the Indian markets with highly subsidised agricultural products, destroying the country's farm sector.
    The comments came a day after India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will bring down the reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18 per cent from the current 25 per cent.
    Making the announcement, US President Donald Trump had said India will move forward to reduce "tariffs and non-tariff barriers" against the US to zero, adding New Delhi would buy American goods, including energy, worth more than USD 500 billion.
    Reacting to the development, the umbrella body of various farmer unions, which had led the 2020-21 farmers' protests, said, "The SKM strongly condemned the betrayal of the people, especially farmers, by the Modi government allowing zero per cent import tariff on US goods, surrendering to the pressure of US Imperialism."
    "This trade deal to allow Indian markets to be flooded by highly subsidised US agricultural products will devastate the entire peasantry in India," it said.
    The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said the US has 18.8 lakh farmers according to a 2024 survey, compared to 14.65 crore operational holdings in India as per the agricultural census of 2015.
    Highlighting that 48 per cent of the workforce and 65 per cent of the population depend on agriculture and allied sectors, the SKM said, "Farmers will never forgive Modi for this historic betrayal."
    It called for a campaign against the Modi government from February 4 to 11 and announced a general strike on February 12.
    Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, meanwhile, said that India has ensured the interests of its sensitive agriculture and dairy sectors are completely protected in the bilateral trade pact that it is finalising with the US following months of negotiations.
    Hours after US President Donald Trump announced a cut in tariff to 18 per cent from 50 per cent in return for favourable treatment by New Delhi, Goyal said a joint statement will be issued by both countries soon that will spell out the details of the pact.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)