The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday, Feb 3 cleared the air on questions of foreign countries supporting protesting farmers against the newly passed three Farm Laws viz; Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
Speaking on the issue, V Muraleedharan, Minister of State (MoS) in MEA, clarified that a few instances of protest by motivated Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) in the US, UK, Canada and some European Countries were reported, however, no foreign government has backed the protesting farmers.
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“No foreign government has given support to the agitation of Indian farmers against three bills passed by the Indian parliament. In Canada, UK, US and few European countries, protests by a few motivated PIO on issues related to the Indian Farm Laws have been reported,” read the reply by V Muraleedharan to the question of foreign countries supporting protesting farmers against farm laws.
When asked about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comment on India’s internal affairs, the MEA stated that the Government of Canada has appreciated the efforts of the Government of India in continuing dialogues with the protesting farmers on the issues. The MEA also clarified that India has lodged a strong displeasure over Canadian PM’s comment in India’s internal affairs, which may affect India-Canada’s bilateral relations.
“We have taken up this matter with the Canadian authorities both in Ottawa and New Delhi and conveyed that such comments pertaining to the internal affairs of India are unwarranted, unacceptable and would damage India-Canada’s bilateral relations,” said MoS in MEA, V Muraleedharan, quoted ANI report.
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Notably, farmers across the nation especially from Punjab and Haryana are protesting aggressively against the recently passed three Farm Laws. The protest began around November last year and is still continuing to worry the nation. On Tuesday, Feb 2, international pop star, Rihanna, came to the target of the nationalist Indians after she wrote a message on Twitter to support protesting farmers against the newly enacted three Farm Laws.
why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest https://t.co/obmIlXhK9S
— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 2, 2021
The Government of India reprehended the tweet by the celeb, and advised to ascertain the facts before rushing to tweet on the subject. “Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible.,” read the statement by MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Wednesday.
#IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda https://t.co/TfdgXfrmNt pic.twitter.com/gRmIaL5Guw
— Anurag Srivastava (@MEAIndia) February 3, 2021
