It is very much in India’s interest that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) should be strengthened. But the eleventh biennial ministerial conference held at Buenos Aires hobbled to an end. India did not suffer a setback as the right to continue the food security programme using support prices was not interfered with. However, the 164 country multilateral organisation which is called upon to frame rules of trade through consensus failed to produce even the semblance of a positive result which exposed the ineffectiveness of the world body. As usual, the US, the most powerful economy in the world put up the major hurdle. The US seems to have no faith or interest in the international body. That has greatly weakened the most successful weapon it had so far, the mechanism for resolving disputes among nations. So far the US has been directly involved in nearly 50% of the cases which have come up before the WTO. True, large groups of countries have acted separately to carry on negotiations on such areas as ecommerce, facilitation of investment and removal of trade obstacles for medium and small scale enterprises. That may be regarded as a distinctly positive development. But the way its progress is halted is extremely discouraging.
India’s stand for its food security programme was indeed laudable. This reformed package which is very much on its way means a greater use of direct cash transfers to beneficiaries. That is what is done in developed countries but for the successful implementation, India has to ensure that the WTO does not lose its efficiency. It proposes to arrange a meeting of some member countries early next year to provide a forum for ironing out differences in promoting their interests of a diverse group of nations. India should be in the forefront of the WTO movement as it has been since Davos and Doha.