India is negotiating a bilateral trade deal with the US and a team of the US officials are expected to visit India later in the month for talks.
“India, strategically protecting its sovereignty, must continue protecting its farmers from likelihood of predatory practices of select global conglomerates who may vie for a lucrative Desi pie without ‘investing in sustainable market infrastructure creation, anchoring agri value chain financing and being a partner in welfare schemes that upend ‘Ease of Living’ for our farming community’,” the report said.
“These concerns arise from a ‘weakened farm economy’ prevailing in the US for quite some time, as a large MNC farm enterprise recently put in its shareholders’ meet, also evident through the financial results, prompting many to scout and screen large economies, growing at a breath neck pace and a bulge in middle class that can sustain the buoyancy in consumption,” it said.
The US wants reduced tariffs on products like corn, soybeans, apples, almonds and ethanol, as well as increased access for US dairy products. New Delhi is, however, resisting these demands as these will have a direct bearing on farmers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that India will never compromise on the interests of its farmers, fishermen and the dairy sector, and declared he was prepared to bear a significant personal cost if necessary. The statement came a day after Trump ratcheted up tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent, even as the two nations discuss a bilateral trade deal. The trade deal has been stuck over the US demand for greater access to India’s agricultural and dairy market. To protect farmers’ interests, the prime minister had said he was ready to personally pay a huge price.
The US has further hiked the trade tariffs on Indian goods to put pressure on India to reduce its dependency on Russia for crude oil.
“If India stopped oil imports from Russia during the rest of FY26, then India’s fuel bill might increase only USD 9 billion in FY26 and USD 11.7 billion in FY27,” the report said.
Russia accounts for 10 per cent of global crude supply, if all the countries stopped buying from Russia, crude price may increase 10 per cent if no other countries increase their production, it added.
