SHIMLA, Feb 4 : All India Kisan Sabha and Himachal Pradesh Kisan Sabha has given a call for a nationwide campaign from Feb 4 to 11, urging farmers to burn effigies of PM Modi and President Trump in villages and also hold a general strike on February 12 in the country to protest the India-US trade deal.
In a statement, Himachal Pradesh Kisan Sabha State President Dr Kuldeep Singh Tanwar, vehemently opposed the India-US Trade Deal.
”This is nothing but total capitulation in the face of Trump’s threats. Modi is shamelessly surrendering India’s national interests and calling it “a mutually beneficial partnership”, he said.
”Even as we await official communication regarding the specificities, including when the new tariffs would come into effect, how the trade barriers would be reduced, and which US products India has committed to buying, Trump’s announcement and Modi’s response welcoming it, leave no doubt as to the nature of the agreement. Coming on the heels of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), this trade deal will deal a double whammy that will deepen the misery of Indian workers, farmers, and the common people.”
Trump claims that in exchange for a “reduced” tariff rate of 18%, India has agreed to completely remove tariffs and non-tariff barriers to US goods. Removing tariffs will result in the flooding of Indian markets with US goods, wrecking our industry and the lives of workers who depend upon it. Agriculture will face an adverse impact that will destroy the livelihoods of our farmers and agricultural workers, he claimed.
Non-tariff barriers include subsidies and other measures which support Indian farmers and ensure a market for their produce, which will now have to compete with massively subsidized US agricultural produce. The commitments to purchase expensive US energy, coal, and other products will directly hit Indian consumers, result in price rise that will worsen the plight of the masses, and undermine India’s energy sovereignty. The forced procurement of US military technology will cripple indigenous production and compromise national security.
In short, the “mutually beneficial partnership” touted by the pliant BJP-led Government will be the death knell of India’s sovereignty.
It demanded that the full text of the India-US Trade Deal, India-UK FTA and the India-EU FTA be placed before Parliament and that a thorough discussion is held with States. All anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people FTAs and Trade Deals signed by this government must be rescinded, it said.
(UNI)
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