Days ahead of a special meeting of trade ministers on the sidelines of the forthcoming World Economic Forum at Davos, India opposed attempts by some developed nations to introduce ‘new issues’ including e-commerce and investment into the formal agenda of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)-level negotiations on liberalisation of global trade.
“It may be alright to have informal and non-binding discussions (on these ‘new issues’). But unless there is consensus among all the WTO member countries, these issues cannot be made part of the formal agenda. I don’t think currently there is any consensus for such a move,” Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters.
India had on earlier occasions too rejected the attempts of the developed world to make such ‘new issues’ part of the ongoing Doha Round talks saying it will ‘dilute’ the ‘development agenda’ of the negotiations. Besides pushing for progress in outstanding issues including those related to food security/sovereignty, India is also demanding that there should be formal discussions at the WTO-level on its proposal on a Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) on Services, which, among other things, envisages easier temporary movement of skilled workers to boost global services trade.
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