Farmers rally on WTO stand

Ahead of the ‘mini-summit’ on international trade talks that India is hosting in this city on Thursday and Friday, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had an unusual meeting — with a group of militant farmers from all over the country, at the Congress party office.

Led by once-legendary farmer icon Mahendra Singh Tikait, the agitated brigade under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union informed the minister that it would hold a protest rally on Thursday, a massive one.

“He told us the government will do everything to protect the farmers. But we can’t believe in mere assurances. We have to also judge what he is doing in reality. Let him hold a meeting with 37 countries. We will also hold our protest rally at Jantar Mantar (the designated public protest site near Parliament),” said Ajmer Singh Lokhwal, BKU chief of Punjab.

As the post Sharma holds has nothing to do with permissions for rallies, and the fact that the meeting was held at the premises of the Congress party suggests tactical government backing for the demonstration, one presumes it is intended to impress negotiators from the 37 countries that India’s objections to US and Europe proposals on farm subsidies are legitimate.

The mini summit is a precursor to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations that begin in Pittsburg, USA, later this month. Rakesh Tikait, who came from Bihar to attend today’s meeting, told Business Standard, “We have demanded that agricultural goods should be kept out of the negotiations with WTO. Sharma couldn’t give any specific assurances.”

Sharma, however, repeatedly said at the meeting and even before leaving the AICC office that farmers “need not worry”. His ministry’s official position is: ‘’The principal aim of India’s negotiating strategy has consistently been to protect the interests of its farmers and industry.’’ This has caused India to be hauled over the coals by most other developed countries led by the United States for the collapse of the Doha round of negotiations. India’s position continues to be that it will not agree to any change in the approach to the Round. Nor will it agree on any compromise over the food and livelihood security of the poor in developing countries.

The 36 invitees include the Brazil-led members of the G-20 alliance of developing countries, the G-33 Group, the coordinators of the ‘least developed countries’ group, the Africas, the Caribbean, and Pacific countries, ‘small and vulnerable economies’, ‘Cotton-4’, and the ‘G-10’. The US, the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand have also been invited. They will be able to see for themselves farmers from all over India congregate to demand a fair deal from the rest of the world.

India’s position seems justified by the fact that the world’s two largest economies – the US and the European Union – have still to reach any agreement on farm subsidies. But intense negotiations, mostly between the USA, China and India, may help pave the way for an international understanding on the issue.