Vegetarians, far less vegans, let us be frank, would not like to be compelled to eat meat. Yet the reverse compulsion is what lurks in the current proposals for a new 'planetary diet'. Nowhere is this more visible than in India.

The subcontinent is often stereotyped by the West as a vegetarian utopia, where transcendental wisdom, longevity, and asceticism go hand in hand.

Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission released its global report on nutrition and called for a global shift to a more plant based diet: 'The scientific targets set by this Commission provide guidance for the necessary shift, which consists of increasing consumption of plant-based foods and substantially reducing consumption of animal source foods'.