Farmers halted at Shambhu border en route to Delhi protest

Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh were stopped by police at the Punjab-Haryana border on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, as they attempted to travel to Delhi for a major protest against a proposed trade agreement with the United States. The farmers' "Chalo Delhi" march was halted at the Shambhu border, where authorities had erected concrete barricades and deployed a heavy police presence, citing security and law and order concerns.

The farmers were traveling to attend a "Kisan Mahapanchayat" at Delhi's Kisan Ghat, organized under the banner of the Desh Bachao Morcha, a coalition of farm unions. Their central grievance is that the proposed trade deal could open Indian markets to cheaper, subsidized American agricultural products, such as soybeans, corn, cotton, dairy, and poultry. Farmers argue this would undermine the competitiveness and livelihoods of India's predominantly small-scale producers. They also fear the agreement's scope could eventually widen to include digital trade, e-commerce, intellectual property, and government procurement.

In response to the halted march, Haryana Agriculture Minister Shyam Singh Rana met with...