India should adopt dual-track trade strategy at WTO, say experts
They said the World Trade Organization (WTO) was relevant because countries benefited from its rules.
These issues were discussed during a seminar on ‘WTO MC14 Conclusions: Future of Multilateralism and Implications for India’s Trade Agenda’ held here on May 5. The seminar was organized by Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
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India has not participated in various ongoing multilateral negotiations at the WTO because it believes that multilateral agreements could weaken the multilateral trading system and thus marginalize developing countries.
“However, with multilateral discussions increasingly shaping the global trading environment, it looks like India may need to recalibrate its approach to multilateralism. It may consider pursuing a two-pronged approach. It should continue to advocate for the WTO’s broader rules-based system that protects developing countries, while engaging in multilateral discussions, especially in areas that support India’s economic and strategic interests,” CRF President Shishir Priyadarshi said. he said.
Discussions were held on broader implications for the reliability and future direction of the rules-based trading system, particularly in the current geopolitical context. ICRIER Director and Chief Executive Officer Shekhar Aiyar said the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Yaounde in March highlighted several divisions, including the distinction between multilateralism and pluralism.
Several important multilateral agreements and initiatives currently being negotiated or discussed among a group of members at the WTO include Investment Facilitation for Development and E-commerce.
These are called multilateral because not all WTO members participate.
Countries such as India and South Africa have expressed concerns about circumventing consensus-based multilateralism.
CRF said in a statement that the discussions underscore the urgency of pragmatic, coalition-based approaches to revitalizing multilateralism – approaches that are sensitive to evolving geopolitical and economic realities while preserving the principles of an open, rules-based and inclusive trading system.
