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News from the Indian movements

Raw materials and resource-shackling under the EU’s FTA texts
6-May-2025 Third World Network
In the area of energy and raw materials, the EU comes up with regressive and restrictive text proposals for its free trade agreement with India (also Tunisia, Vietnam, Mexico) which are directly contradictory to its own conduct and regulations
UK-India treaty with ‘corporate courts’ shows a government “at odds with the times”, campaigners say
6-May-2025 Global Justice Now
Campaigners warn new deal could pose threats to climate action and medicine prices; claims of hypocrisy after UK withdrew from a similar deal last year.
Free trade frenzy: the hidden costs of South Asia’s economic gamble
6-Jun-2024 GRAIN
As debt pressures rise, South Asia’s economic strategies are increasingly revolving around FTAs. The frenzy, however, is not only reshaping the region’s trade dynamics, but also a wide array of national legal frameworks, from labour rights to agriculture policies.
50,000 people say another world is possible
13-Mar-2024 Local Futures
Together with GRAIN, Local Futures organized the aforementioned workshop ‘Resisting Free Trade Agreements in South Asia’, which brought together activists from South Asian countries to confront the massive proliferation of free trade agreements
New patent rules in India-UK trade agreement will prioritise pharmaceutical profit over public health
13-Feb-2024 AFTINET
The “TRIPS-Plus” provisions in the India-UK Agreement are a dangerous attempt to increase the power of pharmaceutical companies by placing profits before public health.
Letter: Civil society calls on UK Prime Minister to ensure UK-India free trade agreement does not threaten access to affordable medicines
23-Jan-2024 MSF
MSF and over 50 UK-based civil society organisations and individuals sent this open letter to United Kingdom Prime Minister, urging him to commit that the UK-India Free Trade Agreement will not gut the public health safeguards that are in India’s intellectual property laws.
Karnataka, India: Farmers hold a forum on trade, climate and seed issues
13-Sep-2023 La Via Campesina
The Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movement (ICCFM) held a three-day forum in Bengaluru to discuss ongoing trade negotiations in which India is engaged and the impact of the climate crisis on Indian agriculture, among other issues.
India’s experience with investment treaty disputes and related damages
17-Aug-2023 Madhyam
The experience with investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms has been mixed, with India facing several adverse awards and financial compensation in certain high-profile cases.
Proposed EU-India FTA
30-Jun-2023 Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Can India protect its development objectives by signing a free trade agreement with an unequal partner with different ambitions?
India’s free trade talks ’ignore’ human rights, social justice, environmental impact
21-Jun-2023 Counterview
More than 130 organisations and civil society leaders have expressed concern at the lack of transparency and non-inclusive consultation processes adopted by the Union Government in the negotiations for entering into free trade, comprehensive economic partnership or investment related agreements.
Development opportunities or challenges
10-Mar-2023 Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
Looking at the proposed Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union.
EU-India trade deal: Business as usual?
8-Feb-2023 Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
The EU-India trade deal is a neoliberal deal, entrenched in the idea that more trade between the two markets will bring significant benefits. Benefits there will be, for Indian and European multinationals but people and the planet will significantly lose from this deal.
MSF responds to UK’s disastrous proposal on intellectual property in UK-India Free Trade Agreement
2-Nov-2022 MSF
UK IP demands contain provisions that would drastically harm access to affordable, lifesaving generic medicines from India, upon which millions of people around the world rely.
Joint UK and Indian civil society statement on the proposed Free Trade Agreement
29-Jul-2022 Traidcraft Exchange
We, as organisations representing Indian and UK civil society, call on the Indian and UK Governments to rethink the Free Trade Agreement currently being negotiated.
’Mad rush to sign FTAs not in interests of farmers’
27-Jun-2022 Deccan Herald
India is inking a series of Free Trade Agreements but there is criticism from various quarters about it. All India Kisan Sabha Joint Secretary Vijoo Krishnan spoke about what is wrong with FTAs and where the government is erring.
Farmer union rep vows Indian people will resist FTAs
29-Apr-2022 bilaterals.org
Interview with Vijoo Krishnan, joint secretary of All India Kisan Sabha (or All India Peasants Union) regarding current India FTAs negotiations.
An India-UK trade deal could mean a race to the bottom for Indian workers
1-Feb-2022 New Internationalist
On farmers and food, vaccine inequality, climate justice and digital rights, we need to act in solidarity – and not allow trade rules to sacrifice people to corporate profit.
A quantitative assessment of India’s withdrawal from RCEP: issues and concerns
29-Oct-2020 TWN
This study casts serious doubt on earlier more optimistic projections of projected gains and shows that the case for proceeding with the RCEP without India’s participation is even less convincing.
Video: India-US free trade agreement and its impact on small-scale food producers in India
6-Aug-2020 La Via Campesina South Asia
In the following videos, the possible impacts of this proposed agreement on India’s small-scale food producers are discussed.
Resisting RCEP from the ground up: Indian movements show the way
10-Feb-2020 GRAIN
The six year long mobilisation led by farmers movements and trade unions have made it amply clear that rural India cannot be taken for a ride any more.