India and Africa said on Friday that the two partners are aligned on the outstanding issues at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and are in favour of multilateral trading systems.
“The WTO Ministerial scheduled for December in Nairobi will be held for the first time in Africa where we will be looking for outcomes that will be of interest to both India and Africa,” Minister of Industry and Commerce, Zimbabwe, Mike Bimha said briefing reporters after the 4th India-Africa Trade Ministers’ meeting on the eve of the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi on October 29.
Union Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that a round table was also held earlier in the day to discuss the outstanding issues at the WTO, including India’s long–held position on the nation’s food security policy, especially the minimum support prices-based procurement from farmers.
At the Bali Ministerial in 2013 too, Africa and India had united in seeking an interim mechanism for safeguarding minimum support prices to farmers against WTO caps till a permanent solution is found and adopted. India’s concern is that even though the interim mechanism has become available indefinitely, the WTO has not made enough progress in finding a solution to the issue ahead of the Nairobi Ministerial.
