Leaders of Indian farmers’ unions have held yet another another round of talks with the government in New Delhi in their latest bid to settle a dispute over a controversial set of new agriculture laws.
Friday’s was the ninth round of discussions over the long-running dispute, which again failed in ending the weeks-long stalemate. Indian media reports said the next round of talks are expected on January 19.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of farmers continue to camp on the outskirts of the capital city protesting for the repeal of the three laws passed in September.
Farmers say the legislation will lead to the cartelisation and commercialisation of agriculture, make farmers vulnerable to corporate greed and devastate their earnings.
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now against the three laws.
A ninth round of talks between the Indian government and protesting farmers over three new contentious farm laws made no headway on Friday, but a government minister and union leaders said they would resume discussions on Tuesday.
The previous rounds of negotiation failed to end the protests, even as unions said they will not settle for anything less than their demands of MSP and repeal of farm laws