New Delhi: The umbrella body of Indian farmers, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), has strongly criticized the India–European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA), calling it a “blueprint for economic colonisation” that will devastate farmers, cripple MSMEs, accelerate de-industrialisation and worsen unemployment.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a statement, the SKM rejected the government’s claims of growth and market access, warning that FTA represents a systematic corporate capture of India’s economy and a surrender of national economic sovereignty to European corporate interests.
Describing the deal as “disastrous for agriculture and industry alike,” SKM said it would hit small and marginal farmers the hardest, destroyng domestic manufacturing and jeopardize jobs. The farmers’ body demanded that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi explain why the agreement is being debated in the European Parliament but has not been subjected to discussion in the Indian Parliament.
The SKM highlighted that the Indian government has agreed to eliminate import duties on a wide range of agricultural and processed food items, while sharply reducing tariffs on kiwis, pears, sausages and other European products. Opening the processed food market, it said, will have a “far more devastating impact” on domestic agriculture, depressing farmgate prices and undermining small producers.
The body also said the Modi government capitulated to European pressure by accepting the EU’s stringent and costly Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) barriers, which continue to block Indian agricultural exports such as grapes and mangoes, while simultaneously diluting Indian standards to facilitate the entry of European produce. “This double standard protects EU farmers while exposing Indian farmers and consumers to unfair competition,” SKM said.
Citing statements by EU leaders, SKM warned the FTA gives Europe its “biggest trade opening” in India, risking an influx of nearly €4 billion worth of subsidised EU dairy products, processed foods, wines and spirits annually. With the EU’s massive farm subsidies under its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), cheap imports are set to crash domestic prices, repeating past crises in pulses and edible oils.
“This is not competition, it is economic warfare against India’s smallholder farmers,” it said.
In the pharmaceutical sector, SKM warned that extended patent terms and data exclusivity would weaken India’s generic medicine industry, making healthcare unaffordable for millions.
On the industrial front, the elimination of import duties on machinery, electrical equipment, aircraft, medical devices, plastics, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, and chemicals, and slashing tariffs on motor vehicles from 110 per cent to just 10 per cent threatens MSMEs, deepen de-industrialisation and lead to large-scale job losses.
SKM announced it would mobilize farmers and workers nationwide and called for a general strike on February 12, protesting the Modi government’s “surrender to European corporate interests” and what it described as betrayal of farmers, workers, and the national economy.