‘Vance Go Back!’ — Indian Farmers on US VP’s Visit

from Consortium News

Thousands of farmers and working-class people in cities and villages across India took to the streets to protest the visit of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance.  They claim he has come to finalize an agreement which will be a disaster for India’s agriculture and small industries.  

Vance arrived in New Delhi on Monday on a four-day tour in the country. As per widespread reports, his primary agenda is to finalize a trade agreement between the two countries.  The talks over the agreement have been ongoing since the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. in February.  

The protesters gathered in villages and district headquarters across India with posters and banners denouncing the Indian government’s failures to safeguard their interests and chanting slogans such as “Vance go back,” and “India is not for sale!”  In some places protesters also burned effigies of Vance.  

Left-leaning All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the largest farmers’ group in the country, issued a statement on April 18 in which it asked all its units to launch the Vance go back campaign and to oppose the proposed trade agreement with the U.S. It called the agreement a surrender of India’s interests.  

The AIKS statement claimed that Vance’s visit to India “is a part of putting pressure upon the state of India and the corporate-led ruling classes to surrender the national interests to facilitate windfall profiteering to the multinational companies.” ...

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‘We feed the nation’: Indian farmers hit the streets on election eve. What do they want?

from RT

At 8am at the Shambhu border, a crossing between the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, Daya Singh, 35, fixed his blue headgear and prepared for a day-long sit-in to join hundreds of farmers protesting at the site to demand guaranteed minimum price for crops. Like hundreds of other farmers, he has been sleeping in his tractor trolley for the last five days after volunteering for different tasks at the protest.

“We are forced to hit the streets. we want protection for our crops,” Singh told RT.

This comes at a crucial juncture in India, as the general election, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party is expected to win a third term, is approaching in a few months. 

The farmers’ vote will have an impact. Agriculture employs around 58% of the country’s population and accounts for about 18.3% of India’s GDP at current prices. Its market size is estimated at $372.94 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach $473.72 billion by 2029. India is the world’s second largest producer of wheat, rice, and sugar...

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