Ready to pay price to protect farmers, says Modi as Trump increases tariff rate
A day earlier, India fired back at Trump's move by calling it 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable', vowing to protect national interests amid a growing fallout between the two countries that have long been strategic partners.
'The interests of our farmers are our topmost priority. India will never compromise the interests of its farmers, its cattle rearers and fisherfolk,' Modi said, addressing an event in New Delhi to commemorate the centenary birth anniversary of MS Swaminathan, the architect of the country's green revolution. 'I know I'll have to pay a big price for this personally, but I'm prepared. India today is prepared to protect its farming community at any cost.'
The White House said on Wednesday that Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25% levy on Indian imports for the country's purchases of Russian oil, which comes on top of a 25% tariff he had announced last week.
India and the US failed to hammer a bilateral trade pact after several rounds of negotiations, despite Trump's hint in the middle of the talks that a 'beautiful big deal' was imminent. India's refusal to open up its farm, fishery, and dairy sectors was one of the main sticking points.
On Thursday, Modi made it clear that India would continue protecting the agriculture sector, which accounts for nearly 18% of the country's gross domestic product and employs millions of poor cultivators who mostly own tiny land parcels.
'The strength of our farmers and agriculture is the very basis for the development of our country. That's why our policies are not just aimed at helping our farmers, but to increase their confidence,' Modi said.
Trump's taunt that India could buy oil from Pakistan did not sit well with New Delhi, and the country has also rejected repeated claims by Trump that he brokered a truce between India and Pakistan by using trade as a lever.
The MS Swaminathan Foundation also conferred the first MS Swaminathan Prize for Food and Peace to Nigerian scientist Ademola A Adenle, the founder of Africa Sustainability Innovation-Academy.
Modi released a commemorative ₹100 coin and a postage stamp in honour of Swaminathan, who collaborated with Norman Borlaug, a Nobel laureate, to customise for India a high-yielding wheat variety Borlaug developed for poverty-stricken Mexico in the 1950s. This wheat type paved the way for an Indian green revolution.
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