New Delhi: In his over hour-long press conference, the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, was in focus over two important questions.Asked how India had agreed to United States President Donald Trump’s Executive Order setting up a committee to “monitor” India’s oil trade, Goyal said the Ministry of External Affairs would answer.But on the second important question: what exactly was in the deal on agriculture, Goyal was forthcoming – except he was not.In his briefing notes, which the cameras caught, it was clearly written, “India’s Calibrated Opening of Agriculture”. There is further text visible too, “safeguarding the interests of producers and farmers”, after a colon. But this crucial aspect, that India would open up its agriculture sector was not mentioned in the briefing by the minister.At one point, the minister even held up the sheet in his briefing note for mediapersons to see. As he did that, he listed the items in the agriculture sector (“…starch, essential oils, ethanol and tobacco”) which would not be opened up to imports from the US under this agreement. “I can assert that this agreement with the United States will not hurt Indian farmers, handicrafts, small businesses in any way,” he continued.But as he spoke, the visual struck an odd contrast. The title of the paper he was holding up clearly said: “India’s Calibrated Opening of Agriculture: Safeguarding the Interests of Farmers and Producers (1/2)”Perhaps he did not use the words “calibrated” or “opening up” from his notes because the government is wary, as it is battling serious charges from the Opposition of having sold India short by not adequately protecting agriculture.The government of India widely publicised the press conference. Just after 16 minutes, the minister’s notes are seen on camera, revealing parts he did not read out about ‘opening up’ Indian agriculture.The notes are visible in the video of the press conference put out by the minister himself – around the 16-minute mark. The screenshot in the lead image is from 16:10. While speaking of reassurances and other proclamations about Viksit Bharat, why did the minister skip this?This is significant, as the notes signify bottomlines on what would have been agreed with the US.Does the government not want to be seen sharing this essential fact of the deal pushed onto India by this agreement/phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump?US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, even before the US-India Joint Statement was made public by the White House, had said, “The new US-India deal will export more American farm products to India’s massive market, lifting prices and pumping cash into rural America. In 2024, America’s agricultural trade deficit with India was USD 1.3 billion. India’s growing population is an important market for American agricultural products,and today’s deal will go a long way to reducing this deficit.”Last year, the Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (ICCFM), a body comprising farmers’ groups and movements, had asked the government to exclude all aspects of agriculture from the US trade deal in order to protect the interests of Indian farmers.In a letter to Goyal, the ICCFM had warned that granting duty-free access to US agricultural products under a trade agreement could have adverse consequences.“The US trade deficit in agriculture has nearly doubled, indicating a significant surplus they may seek to offload onto markets like India. For example, soybean exports from the US dropped from $34.4 billion in 2022 to $24.5 billion in 2024, while corn exports fell from $18.6 billion to $13.9 billion during the same period,” the letter said.The risk to Indian farmers, said the ICCFM was considerable as the US government is among the world’s largest subsidisers of its agriculture. The recent 2024 US Farm Bill allocates USD 1.5 trillion towards farm subsidies to its own farmers.Samyukta Kisan Morcha has also made its position on pushing US agricultural products into India clear. Farmer leaders such as president of the All Indian Kisan Federation Prem Singh Bhangu were reported saying, “There are around eight lakh farmers in the US who are also very heavily subsidised, while in India there are crores of farmers and we have been demanding a guaranteed law for Minimum Support Price (MSP). If US produce is pushed in the country, our farmers will be finished for good.”Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Union agriculture minister, had to firefight in parliament this week and declared that “India’s staple grains, fruits, major crops, millets and dairy products remain completely secure and face no threat whatsoever.” He emphasised that the interests of small and large farmers alike have been fully protected, and that the agreement will create fresh opportunities rather than risks for Indian agriculture.”Then why did the commerce minister not mention this calibrated opening of Indian agriculture – and only the listed the items that will have protection against this new round of liberalisation – in his press conference today? After all, it was all in his notes.