What many feared has come to pass. This writer has been warning for some time now that no matter what the Modi government claimed, Donald Trump would succeed in forcing India into a trade deal. Whatever the spin, agriculture would be part of it.

For months, courtier media kept insisting that Modi had refused to bow to American pressure. In August 2025, the prime minister thumped his chest and declared that farmers, livestock rearers and fisherfolk were his top priority, and that there would be no compromise on their interests. The same claim was made when agriculture was kept out of the trade agreement with the European Union — proof, we were told, that Modi was protecting farmers.

In the end, what was bound to happen did happen. As with the India–Pakistan ceasefire, this time too Indians heard the news first from the US President. The prime minister has yet to open his mouth, and the Indian government has not issued a formal statement. But Trump’s announcement clearly states that agriculture has been included in the deal.

This has been confirmed by US agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins, who congratulated American farmers and wrote that President Trump had now thrown open the doors of Indian markets to their crops.

The Indian government will no doubt do a damage-control exercise. But before we get swept up in the mainstream media narrative, let’s review a few basic facts. For decades — regardless of which party was in power — India’s policy has been to keep agriculture out of........

© National Herald