Indian farmers resume Delhi protest push after talks fail

NEW DELHI

Thousands of Indian farmers riding tractors prepared to resume their push towards New Delhi yesterday after failing to reach a deal with the government on their demands for higher crop prices.

The protest hopes to successfully replicate the yearlong siege of highways into the capital that pressured Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government into abandoning its agricultural reform plans in 2021.

Police have kept a miles-long column of farmers atop agricultural machinery at bay since last week near the small village of Shambhu, several hours' drive north of their intended destination.

Protesters have stared down efforts to disperse them with tear gas barrages and have vowed to push through the fearsome blockade of metal spikes and concrete barricades erected to halt their progress.

"We assure you that we will break the barriers," farmer Jagmohan Singh, 45, told AFP.

"Once we break it, we will only stop again in Delhi."

Farm unions are demanding a law to set a minimum price on all crops, expanding a government scheme that already exists for staples including rice and wheat.

They have also demanded other concessions including the waiving of loans and universal pensions for farmers aged 60 and above.

Protesters temporarily paused their procession to Delhi last week to await the outcome of negotiations between government ministers and unions.

But several rounds of talks have failed to reach a breakthrough.

Two-thirds of India's 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, accounting for nearly a fifth of the country's GDP.