Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Sunday termed the trade deal with the US “betrayal of farmers”, and asked whether India was “giving another country a long-term grip on India’s agricultural system”.
“We are witnessing a betrayal of India’s farmers in the name of a US trade deal,” he said in a post of X.
In Parliament last week, Rahul hit out at the government over the clauses of the trade deal, claiming that “India had been sold”.
Asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi a set of “simple questions”, Rahul wrote: “What does importing DDG (Distilled Dry Grains) really mean? Does it mean Indian cattle will be fed distillers grains derived from GM American corn? Won’t that effectively integrate our dairy chain with the US agricultural system?”
In his second question, he said that “if we allow imports of GM soya oil, what happens to our soya farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and across the country? How will they survive another price shock?”
“When you say ‘additional products’, what does that include? Does it signal pressure to open up pulses and other sensitive crops to US imports over time?” asked Rahul.
Rahul sought to know what removing “non-trade barriers” meant. “Will India be pushed to dilute its stand on GM crops, weaken procurement, or undermine MSP and bonuses in the future?” he said, adding “once this door opens, how do we prevent it from widening every year?”
“Will there be safeguards, or will more crops steadily be put on the table in each negotiation round?” he said.
Concluding his post on X, Rahul said: “This isn’t just about today. It’s about the future too — are we allowing another country to gain a long-term hold on India’s agriculture industry?”
As part of his campaign against the trade deal with the US, Rahul on Saturday had said that the agreement will “destroy and finish” the textile industry of India.