India, Feb. 13 -- The debate surrounding the India-US trade deal has been predictably intense. For some, it represents strategic maturity; for others, it signals vulnerability, particularly in agriculture. Concerns about farmer exposure, subsidy asymmetry, tariff imbalance and sovereignty have all been voiced with urgency.

Yet trade policy is best judged not by rhetoric but by first principles. In agriculture, three tests matter above all: Does the agreement protect consumers from instability? Does it safeguard farmer livelihoods? And does it preserve national food security? Measured against these criteria, the agreement appears less a leap into liberalisation than a calibrated exercise in risk management.

The consumer test: Price stabi...