New Delhi, Feb 15 (EFE).- Indian farmers, who have been trying to reach the capital New Delhi for three days with a protest march to demand guarantees of minimum support prices for their crops from the government declared a temporary truce on Thursday as they waited for their leaders to meet the authorities.

A general view of farmers’ vehicles and tents on the second day of their protest, at Shambhu Haryana-Punjab border point, 250 kilometers from Delhi, India, 14 February 2024. EFE-EPA/RAJAT GUPTA

“We have a meeting with the ministers today, and we want PM (Narendra) Modi to have a conversation with them so that we can reach a solution for our demands. Or else, we should be allowed to protest peacefully in Delhi,” Sarvan Singh Pandher, a leader of the farmers, told Indian agency ANI.

Pandher was confident that a solution would be reached during the meeting, scheduled to take place around 5 pm in the city of Chandigarh, where Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda would also be present.

Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai were among those expected to join the meeting, according to the farmer leader, who told the media that they had asked the protesting farmers to remain calm and not to continue moving towards New Delhi until the end of the meeting.

Thousands of farmers on hundreds of tractors on Tuesday began a massive march towards New Delhi from the state of Punjab, known as the ‘breadbasket of India,’ to press home their demands.

Police used barriers and fired tear gas to stop the march of farmers on the border between Punjab and Haryana states.

Backed by several associations, farmers demanded, among other things, a guarantee of Minimum Support Prices (MSP) on certain crops by law to protect their prices in the face of market fluctuations.

The implementation of minimum prices was one of the main demands during protests between 2020 and 2021 when thousands of farmers camped for almost 15 months outside Delhi opposing an agrarian reform initiated by the Indian government.

Modi had to bow to pressure and repeal a newly enacted law, which farmers said gave too much power to big companies by deregulating the market.

Two years later, farmers associations say the government has not met all their demands. EFE

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