Thousands of protesters have camped on the outskirts of New Delhi
\nnews agency
\nNEW DELHI
\nThe Indian government on Tuesday appealed to farmers to hold further talks to break a nearly month-long deadlock over their demand for the repeal of agricultural reform laws, but farmers\u2019 leaders declined to relent unless these laws are withdrawn.
\nThousands of protesters have camped on the outskirts of New Delhi and blocked national highways for over three weeks to protest against new laws that the government says would increase farmers\u2019 income through more private investments.
\nPrime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s government has urged the farmers to engage in talks to end the deadlock over the three reform laws introduced in September, but the farmers insist the laws would hit them economically while benefiting big retailers.
\n\u201cWe assure our farmers that we\u2019ll listen to them with an open mind,\u201d Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday.
\nThe government was \u201copen\u201d to amend the new laws, Tomar told foreign journalists.
\nHe, however, declined to say whether the government could consider withdrawal of these laws as demanded by protesters.
\nUrging India\u2019s diaspora to help the government to convince farmers, Tomar said new policy changes would make agriculture more attractive for farmers.
\nProtesters have been getting support from tens of thousands of overseas Indians mainly from Punjab, who have organised demonstrations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia in support of the protests.
\nFarmers\u2019 leaders have decided to continue with protests.
\n\u201cFarmers have decided they won\u2019t go back till the government takes back all three farm laws,\u201d said Rakesh Tikait, spokesman for Bhartiya Kisan Union, one of over 30 protesting unions.
\n\u201cIt will take more than a month to resolve all issues. Government will come to us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thousands of protesters have camped on the outskirts of New Delhi news agency NEW DELHI The Indian government on Tuesday appealed to farmers to hold further talks to break a nearly month-long deadlock over their demand for the repeal of agricultural reform laws, but farmers\u2019 leaders declined to relent unless these laws are withdrawn. Thousands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-163782","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n