India faces barbs to agree to WTO deal - Times of India

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The author has posted comments on this article Sidhartha, TNN | Jul 26, 2014, 06.15AM IST

NEW DELHI: The government was hoping to use the meeting of trade ministers from G-20 countries to also discuss bilateral trade and investment issues with key partners like the US, EU, Australia and New Zealand. Instead, commerce & industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman and officials accompanying her to Sydney last week, spent more time dealing with pressure from developed countries on getting India to back the WTO's trade facilitation pact.

During the interactions, a trade minister went to the extent of advising India to ignore some of the issues mentioned in the Bali declaration, maintaining that "no agreement can be perfect", before launching an attack on a recent MoU between India and China on investment in industrial parks. There was another who suggested that the BJP government could look at other options given the mandate for change in the elections.

Sitharaman, officials present during some of the meetings, held firm and said India would only settle for a "package" that includes the trade facilitation agreement as well as a permanent solution to its food security concerns and issues of interest to the poor countries. While suggesting that her counterparts refrain from commenting on agreements signed by the world's two most populous countries, the minister reminded them that India's decision to link food security talks with the trade facilitation agreement was meant to protect the interest of poor farmers across the world. India is also learnt to have pointed out that the US provided subsidies of $120 billion, while EU's support to its farmers was of the order of euro 86 billion.

But a big surprise awaited the Indian delegation as Australian trade minister Andrew Robb refused to acknowledge India's concerns in his summing up statement after G-20 meet, resulting in protest.

There have been fears in some quarters that the US could respond to India's defiant stand by initiating action, including trade sanctions. The government cites a 1999 ruling to say that US can't take unilateral action and any dispute must be resolved by the WTO.

Although several countries have refrained from going public with their support for India's position, officials said South Africa and Brazil endorsed India's stand.

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