G-20 meeting: Discussions held on enhancing cooperation with countries for development of agriculture sector

Hyderabad: Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had bilateral meetings with the Ministers of America, United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, and the Commissioner of the European Union on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting held in Hyderabad on Friday.

Tomar discussed about increasing cooperation with these countries for the overall development of the agriculture sector. He specifically mentioned India's initiative to promote ‘Shri Anna’and sought to strengthen the relationship between the European Union and India.

The minister held discussions with US Minister Small and said that India and US have a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, covering almost all sectors, shared democratic values, and convergence of interests on several issues and the partnership is driven by vibrant people-to-people contact.

Tomar said that agriculture is a focus area for India, being the source of livelihood for crores of farmers and their families. In recent years, India has taken several major initiatives to make agriculture sustainable as well as improve farmers' income and farm productivity. New and emerging technologies have a major role to play in transforming the agriculture sector so that it can meet the growing demand and other qualitative challenges of the future. He opined that India can benefit from America's advanced technology in agriculture, while cooperation can be sought in the field of precision farming, drone technology, water and soil sensor technology and tracking technology and systems for traceability.

During the discussions held with his UK’s counterpart Therese Coffee, Tomar said that over the years, the historical relationship of India-UK has transformed into a strong, multi-faceted, mutually beneficial relationship. India and the UK are working closely on climate issues through various mechanisms, including the Ministerial Energy Dialogue and Joint Working Groups on Climate, Electricity and Renewable Energy. Two MoUswere also signed with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for cooperation in agricultural research. Expanding the scope of cooperation to other mutually beneficial areas of agriculture is under consideration, he added.

Tomar in his meeting with Japanese Minister Tetsuro Nomura, said that the India-Japan partnership has established itself as a significant partnership in the Indo-Pacific region. A strong partnership with Japan is the cornerstone of India's Act East Policy and central to our vision of the Indo-Pacific Economic partnership. He said climate change initiatives are an integral part of our global partnership. India appreciates Japanese participation in India-led international mechanisms such as International Solar Alliance (ISA), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and LEEDIT (co-led by India and Sweden). These initiatives are set to work on creating global low-carbon pathways through a multi-stakeholder mechanism. Similarly, with the Italian Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, Union Agriculture Minister Tomar said that India values its friendly relations with Italy and would like to work with Italy to further strengthen these relations and ensure continuous dialogue at the highest levels. wants to work with leadership.

That apart, the is also a year special for India-Italy bilateral relations, as both countries are celebrating 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations and India is chairing the G-20. It is a matter of happiness that cooperation is going on in the field of agriculture in both countries.

Tomar also had a meeting with EU Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, in which Tomar said that the India-EU relationship is important our country politically, strategically, and economically. Both India and the European Union are guided by democratic politics and free market economic principles and are thus ideally suited for a mutually beneficial partnership.