India should adopt dual-track trade strategy at WTO, say experts

New Delhi: India should adopt a dual-track approach, upholding the core principles of the multilateral system while selectively and strategically engaging in plurilateral initiatives that serve its interests, say experts.

They said the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is relevant as countries are benefiting from its rules.

These issues were deliberated during a seminar on 'WTO MC14 Outcomes: Future of Multilateralism and Implications on India's Trade Agenda' here on May 5. The seminar was organised by Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).


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India has not joined various plurilateral negotiations underway at the WTO because it believes that plurilateral agreements may weaken the multilateral trading system and thereby marginalise developing countries.

"However, with plurilateral discussions increasingly shaping the global trade landscape, it seems that India may have to recalibrate its approach to plurilateralism. It could consider following a two-track approach. It should continue defending the WTO's broader rules-based system that protects developing countries, while also joining plurilateral discussions, especially in areas which support India's economic and strategic interests," CRF President Shishir Priyadarshi said.

The discussions were held on the broader implications for the credibility and future direction of the rules-based trading system, particularly in the current geopolitical context.

Shekhar Aiyar, Director and Chief Executive of ICRIER, said the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference, held in Yaounde in March, had highlighted several divides, including the divide between multilateralism and plurilateralism.

At the WTO, a few key plurilateral agreements and initiatives that are currently being negotiated or discussed among a group of members include Investment Facilitation for Development and E-commerce.

These are called plurilateral because not all WTO members participate.

Countries like India and South Africa have raised concerns about them bypassing consensus-based multilateralism.

In a statement, the CRF said the discussions underscored the urgency of pragmatic, coalition-based approaches to revitalising multilateralism-approaches that are responsive to evolving geopolitical and economic realities while safeguarding the principles of an open, rules-based, and inclusive trading system.