In an unusual first for a small regional party and a BJP ally, the PMK has hailed the Narendra Modi government’s firm stand at the recent World Trade Organisation talks on food security issues, which stood in the way of a deal that would have affected the interests of the developing countries.
India’s “bold and categorical stand” at the Geneva negotiations that countries should find a “permanent solution to the food security proposals” led to the collapse of the talks. It “has ensured protection of our farmers, food procurement and food security, including the Public Distribution System,” PMK founder S. Ramadoss said in a statement on Sunday. India’s stand ensured that the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which had to meet a July 31 deadline, did not come through.
Pointing out that any conclusion of the TFA would have meant a collapse of the food security measures in countries like India, Dr. Ramadoss said the accord would have only favoured the rich nations. It would have committed India to slashing food subsidies and phasing them out by 2017, he said. “India’s stand has averted a major crisis for us at a time when farmers’ suicides are on the rise in the country.”
Stating that subsidies were much higher in the developed countries, Dr. Ramadoss said it had also enabled them to achieve a better Human Development Index (HDI). But, in India, there was a compelling need to continue the food subsidies for more than 66 per cent of the population.
Even the Food Security Act brought in by the previous UPA government would have been affected if the TFA was concluded, Dr. Ramadoss said. The country would have been forced to depend entirely on the open market for all its food needs.
He said pressure from the developed countries on India was bound to persist, and hoped Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to the U.S. in September, would not yield to it. “India should show the same resolve in other spheres as well such as the Sri Lankan Tamils issue,” Dr. Ramadoss said.
