New Delhi: Genetically modified (GM) crops won’t be crossing India’s borders anytime quickly, regardless of how urgently the US knocks. As commerce negotiations between New Delhi and Washington enter a vital part, insiders say one crimson line will not be up for dialogue.
“There are issues that aren’t about negotiation. Some issues are a matter of precept,” stated a senior official near the event.
That precept, sources say, is GM corn and soy. Whereas American negotiators have made agricultural entry a central demand, urgent India for a wider entry gate for U.S. farm items, New Delhi will not be blinking, particularly on GM imports.
Over time, the difficulty has mutated from a mere commerce disagreement right into a symbolic battle over sovereignty, meals security and grassroots politics.
The USA Commerce Consultant (USTR) has repeatedly flagged India’s restrictions on GM merchandise, calling them “non-tariff limitations”. However Indian authorities stay unmoved, largely due to the hardline stance taken by home teams carefully aligned with the ruling institution.
Final month, the message from Sangh associates was if America insists on forcing GM crops into the Indian market, there could also be no commerce deal in any respect. Carried in Enterprise Customary, that warning echoed the emotions of influential teams such because the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which have lengthy opposed agricultural concessions to Washington, notably in sectors like dairy and GM crops.
Their argument? Meals safety. The BKS has typically warned that permitting U.S. crops into India, particularly with out clear labelling or transparency, may sabotage home farming ecosystems and compromise well being security requirements. However, the SJM sees this as a direct assault on financial self-reliance.
In the meantime, the clock is ticking. U.S. officers have privately hinted on the urgency of the second, pointing to a deadline set by President Donald Trump, who’s looking for a revival of his commerce agenda. Trump has marked August 1 as a red-letter day. If no interim deal is inked by then, India might be hit with reciprocal tariffs, doubtlessly as excessive as 26 %.
Indian commerce negotiators should not detached to that strain. However in keeping with officers concerned within the course of, the sixth spherical of talks will solely occur within the second half of August after Trump’s deadline expires. Any hope for a short-term decision appears, at finest, unrealistic.
As one official put it, “We’re not compromise in areas that contact the lives of tens of millions.” In different phrases, GM corn is off the desk. And maybe, so is the deal, not less than for now.