Farm laws: No foreign government has supported farmers’ protests, Union minister tells Parliament
The Union minister of state for external affairs did add that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had commented on the matter.
The Centre on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that no foreign government has supported the farmers’ agitation against three new agriculture laws, but some people of Indian origin had staged protests against the legislation.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan did said that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had made a comment on the agitation.
“The matter was taken up with the Canadian authorities both in Ottawa and New Delhi and it was conveyed to them that such comments related to India’s internal matter are unwarranted, unacceptable and would damage India-Canada bilateral relations,” the minister said in reply to a question.
Muraleedharan added that the Canadian government has welcomed India’s commitment to the dialogue with the farmers to discuss the laws.
In December, Trudeau had backed the farmers’ protests. “The situation [from the protest] is concerning,” he had said. “We’re all very worried about family and friends. We know that’s a reality for many of you. Let me remind you, Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protestors.”
In response, India had criticised Trudeau for his comments, saying they were unwarranted. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said that it was best that diplomatic conversations were not misrepresented for “political purposes”.
Besides Canada, 36 British MPs had written a letter to the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, urging him to raise their concern with India over the farm law protests. The legislators had said that protests “are of particular concern to Sikhs in the UK” as many of them have family members and ancestral land in Punjab.
Farmers have been camping at Delhi’s border points for over two months now. They fear that the government’s move to introduce market reforms will leave them at the mercy of corporations. The protestors remain firm on their demand for the repeal of the farming laws.