THE World Trade Organization (WTO) which was formed 20 years ago will have its 10th ministerial conference in Nairobi next week. Director General Roberto Azevedo does not hold out high hopes about the outcome of the deliberations. But as an orderly multilateral trading system, the WTO has considerable importance and a successful summit will be very much in India’s interest. The last summit held at Bali led to the Trade Facilitation
Agreement. It was the first multilateral trade agreement signed under its aegis. The importance of the agreement is evident from the fact that WTO claims it may result in a cut in trade costs by about 14%. It has a greater potential than even the removal of all global tariffs. At Bali, India also secured indefinite protection for its existing PDS programme. But India has reason to be unhappy about the lukewarm interest of the major players at the WTO in agenda items beyond the Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The US plays a major role in being proactive about cobbling together regional trade agreements. This shows that interest in a multilateral trade agreement is not all that much at the WTO. This attitude augurs ill for India. India is majorly interested in the WTO’s multilateral agenda. Recent regional trade agreements such as the TransPacific Partnership are not very much in India’s interest. At the Nairobi summit, India has to ensure that a balance is achieved between protecting the country’s interest and the feasibility of a durable agreement. Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made her stand clear. India will fight for multilateral trade agreements at the Nairobi summit as best it can.
