Khanauri Border Standoff Ends Centre Farmers Talks September 4

The standoff at the Khanauri border between Punjab and Haryana ended on Wednesday afternoon with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) calling off its sit-in near NH-52 after the Centre agreed to hold talks with the farmers’ organisation, paving the way for the reopening of the national highway that had remained blocked since Sunday.

The development also opens the possibility of resumption of dialogue between the Centre and the SKM (non-political) after nearly 17 months. A meeting between a delegation of the organisation and Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar, a former Haryana chief minister, has been scheduled in New Delhi. The Haryana government will facilitate the meeting.

SKM (non-political) leader Abhimanyu Kohar said, “We have been informed that Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar will meet the delegation of farmers on September 4 and that he can arrange a meeting of the delegation with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the same day or afterwards,” he said.

District officials in Haryana’s Jind also confirmed the development. Narwana Sub-Divisional Magistrate Jagdish Chander, who visited the Khanauri border along with Punjab government officials to hold discussions with the protesting farmers, confirmed that the meeting had been fixed. He requested the farmers to end the sit-in.

Meanwhile, NH-52 remained closed for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday. Haryana authorities had sealed the highway on their side using stone boulders, barbed wire, temporary barricades, heavy vehicles, and a large security deployment. With the farmers withdrawing from the site, the highway is expected to be reopened shortly.

SKM (non-political) convenor Jagjit Singh Dallewal said, “Based on the meeting invitation, we are postponing our ‘Paidal Yatra’ towards Jantar Mantar and will be moving back to our houses from here itself,” he said.

Dallewal, however, warned that SKM (non-political) members from across the country would reach Jantar Mantar to protest if the government cancelled or postponed the September 4 meeting. He added that the meeting could be the first step towards discussions on the India-US trade deal, which has been a major concern for the farmers.

The SKM (non-political) had camped on the service road since August 16, when Haryana authorities stopped its members from undertaking their proposed Kisan Bachao Paidal Yatra from Khanauri to Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The farmers planned to cover around 228 km between August 16 and 29, but the authorities put up multiple layers of barricading and security arrangements on NH-52.

From February 13, 2024, to March 19, 2025, farmers had held dharnas at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders under the banners of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and SKM (non-political), primarily seeking a legal guarantee for minimum support price. Seven rounds of talks were held between farmer leaders and a panel of Union ministers in Chandigarh, but no dialogue took place after March 19, 2025.

Unlike the earlier talks, the September 4 meeting is expected to be directly between the SKM (non-political) delegation and the Union government, without the Punjab government playing a coordinating role.

Farmers had announced they would march bare-chested towards the sealed border on Wednesday, but the proposed action was called off after the meeting invitation came. The highway, connecting Punjab’s Sangrur district with Jind, had been closed since Sunday morning, forcing vehicles to use alternative routes.