What is non-veg milk? Know its connection with India-US trade talks

Amid the ongoing bilateral trade talks negotiations between India and the United States, dairy sector has become the bone of contention between the talks. Even as Washington DC pushes New Delhi to open its market for the former’s dairy products, India is culturally concerned about the ‘non-veg milk’. This cultural sensitivity is due to fear that the US might export milk from cows who are fed animal-based products like meat or blood. India has strictly refused for imported milk over religious and cultural concerns and has termed this as a “non-negotiable red line”.

What is India's stern reply to US?

The crucial trade discussion between India and the United States has come to a standstill, which was meant to finalise the bilateral trade deal to USD 500 billion by 2030. For India the dairy and agriculture sector are a big red line. India has insisted on getting strict certification to be ensured that imported dairy products only come from normal cows. India has insisted on this to secure its citizens.

“Imagine eating butter made from the milk of a cow that was fed meat and blood from another cow. India may never allow that,” Ajay Srivastava of Global Trade Research Institute (GTRI), a New Delhi-based think tank, told news agency PTI. India has wide uses of milk in everyday life beyond just consumption. Milk forms an essential part of India’s religious practices. But the other side, the US has called India’s demands over dairy and agriculture as an “unnecessary trade barrier”. India is the world’s top milk producer and so has stood firm on protecting its millions of dairy farmers from low-income group.

The top government officials say that India has strongly refused to give in over dairy imports. India’s dairy sector is huge as it caters to more than 1.4 billion consumers and is a massive job market as well as it employs more than 80 million people who are mainly smallholder farmers. “There is no question of conceding on dairy. That's a red line,” said a senior government source in an interview with India Today TV earlier in July.