India, Feb. 5 -- India has completely protected the interests of its agriculture and dairy sector in the India-US trade agreement. It is essential to understand why India is protecting its agriculture and dairy sector. Here is a list of key pointers to explain the issue:

Agriculture and allied activities such as animal husbandry form the backbone of India's rural economy, providing employment to over 700 million people. Unlike in developed economies, where agriculture is highly mechanised and corporatised, in India, it is a livelihood issue.

Granting import duty concessions in agriculture for companies of developed countries that heavily subsidize their farmers would mean an influx of cheap food grains and products into India. It would ...