Nirmala Sitharaman, Roberto Azevêdo may discuss movement of professionals

NEW DELHI: Easier movement of professionals across borders, international digital trade and simpler investment norms are likely to be discussed when commerce & industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets World Trade Organization director-general Roberto Azevêdo in Geneva on Tuesday.

This is Sitharaman's first visit to the WTO headquarters after JS Deepak assumed office as India's envoy to the global body dealing with rules of trade between nations.

"The idea of the visit is to get familiar with what is happening in Geneva," said an official, adding that Sitharaman's discussions with Azevêdo could be open-ended.

Another official added that though the visit is awaiting approval and the details are yet to be finalised, the minister is also scheduled to share her views on WTO and multilateralism at a lecture at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva the same day.

The minister's visit takes place when negotiations on agriculture and food security, which are key to India, are stuck and other countries are pushing two issues — ecommerce and investment facilitation. India is critical of both and is not yet ready for them to be discussed at the multilateral level.

Developed countries, individually or at various multilateral fora, have tried to pressure India to begin talks on ecommerce. However, investment facilitation is a new demand that some BRICS nations have supported.

Instead, New Delhi is throwing its weight behind its proposal on trade facilitation in services.