Free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries in the West would harm India’s agriculture, its farmers, and small industries, claimed one of India’s largest farmer’s groups, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), in a press release on Tuesday, July 1.
AIKS also extended its support for and announced participation in the upcoming national strike on July 9 against the policies of the ultra-right-wing government in the country.
Over 150 million members, along with other constituents of the farmers’ coalition Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), will participate in demonstrations in towns and villages across India on July 9, claimed AIKS in a press release on Tuesday, July 1.
Central Trade Unions (CTUs) is a united front of all major trade union groups in India. They have called for a nationwide strike in opposition to the economic policies followed by the ruling ultra-right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). One of their major demands is the immediate withdrawal of four labor codes introduced in 2020.
CTUs claim that the four labor codes deprive workers of their basic rights, such as collective bargaining and action, rights won through decades of struggle.
The national strike call is also supported by various independent federations in the country. The strike also covers several other demands long raised by the trade union movements and farmers’ groups, such as an increase in the minimum wage, a legal minimum support price (MSP) for all farm products, and the need to address growing sectarian violence in the country.
The BJP-led government and its “anti-farmer, pro-corporate policies” have been responsible for the “grim agrarian scenario” in the country where a large number of farmers are forced to abandon agriculture without any recourse to alternative sources of livelihoods, AIKS claimed.
AIKS, along with other constituents of the SKM, have carried out several rounds of mass mobilization in the last few years demanding immediate government intervention in support of farmers by providing a legal MSP, debt relief, subsidized electricity, and other basic inputs to make agriculture sustainable. AIKS has also opposed the existing land acquisition policies adopted by the governments across the country.
AIKS noted the government’s failure to address the basic demands of the farmers and failed to bring the agriculture sector out of its prolonged crisis, reiterating its resolve to sharpen its years-long fight for the same.
No free trade agreements with the US, the UK, and others
AIKS also warned against what it called the prime minister Narendra Modi-led government’s “hurried moves” to sign FTAs with the Europeans and the US.
The farmer’s group argued that FTAs “will drastically reduce or eliminate import duties on key agricultural products, threatening the livelihoods of millions of Indian farmers” apart from negatively affecting the growth of micro, small, and medium enterprises which have been the backbone of employment in the country.
AIKS also claimed that in its hurry to please their imperialist bosses in the West, the central government is signing such agreements without the consent of other concerned parties such as the opposition groups, trade unions, and social movements.
FTAs are being finalized without the consent of important state governments ruled by the opposition, a violation of India’s federal principle which grants state and local governments more decision-making power in managing agriculture and small industries.
The Indian government finalized an FTA with the UK in May, which opens the Indian market for British products, including its agricultural products, with virtually no tariffs or restrictions.
India is also in the final stages of reaching a bilateral trade deal with the US, according to reports in Indian media. The discussions on the agreement started in February when Modi visited the US. Talks have been expedited following the announcement of US President Donald Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariff regime” in April.
