INDIAN farmers protesting against new laws that will result in their exploitation by corporations have brought New Delhi’s main highways to a standstill with their trucks, trailers and tractors.

The convoy, which stretches out for at least 1.8 miles, is made up of tens of thousands of farmers, and food and fuel supplies, to last them weeks. 

Farmers, who are protesting against a new law which they say will render them landless, are sleeping inside their trailers or under the trucks at night and thousands more join them each day. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is continuing to insist that the reforms will benefit the farmers. 

Protester Gurpreet Singh, a biotechnology student from a farming family, said: “We aren’t going to leave this place. It’s a fight for our survival.”

The protests started in September but gained momentum last week when the farmers marched from northern Punjab and Haryana, two of India’s largest agricultural states. 

On their way to the capital, they pushed aside concrete barricades set up by police and braved tear gas, batons and water cannon.

Farmer Darshan Singh Khatauli said: “It will be a long battle. It is up to the government when it wants to end this.”