According to the latest information, the United States is asking India to allow their GMO products to enter the local market, but local authorities do not agree.
The parties were unable to reach a consensus on this issue, experts say.
It is noteworthy that the agreement on agricultural products containing GMOs should become part of a very large US-Indian deal announced by Donald Trump.
However, it appears that it may become a stumbling block, since the negotiations on this topic, which were supposed to be completed by June 27, have been extended, but have not yet led to any serious results.
India is taking a fairly firm position on the issue of opening its market to genetically modified products from the United States. According to local experts, this may harm Indian farmers.
This is due to the fact that such American products can be sold in large volumes and at low prices, which will significantly affect local producers, since they will lose a significant part of their competitiveness.
Some experts also express concerns about the safety of GMOs for the health of citizens and the environment. Although their harm has not yet been proven, public opinion in many countries is opposed to such technologies, and this must be taken into account.
In addition, India is generally interested in signing agreements that would give it some preferences.
For example, they reduced export duties, which Trump has currently set at a fairly high level.
However, nothing like this is apparently being offered to it. This reduces its motivation to make reciprocal concessions. Including in terms of opening its market to GMO crops from the United States.
It is noteworthy that the United States itself is asking India to reduce import duties on American agricultural products.
For example, on dairy products. But there has been no significant progress in this matter at the moment either.
Against this backdrop, some analysts are concerned that failure to reach agreement on these issues could lead to a deterioration in US-India relations as a whole.
While it is relatively easy to cancel or reduce mutual duties, opening the Indian market to GMO products is a much more serious barrier, experts warn.
At present, the likelihood that the US will be able to implement this initiative is quite low, since this issue is extremely sensitive for India both politically and economically.
