Deal breaker or the protector of interests of developing countries? India’s negotiating stance in WTO

Abstract

The initial years of WTO promised that India would be a net gainer since the benefits accruing to them from the liberalisation of the three key sectors, namely, agriculture, textiles and services would more than offset the expected losses from removal of quantitative restrictions and imposition of a stricter intellectual property rights regime. However, the implementation experience of the WTO has been less than satisfactory for developing and least developed countries. So, when the Doha Development Round was launched, it was emphasised that the new round would take into account the development needs of poorer countries and would address the implementation issues of the Uruguay Round agreement. This chapter will analyse India’s engagement in the Doha Round of trade talks in the light of its experience with the WTO regime. It will also look into the changing global economic landscape including the proliferation of the regional trade agreements and a regime of increasing commodity prices to analyse India’s evolving negotiating position in the Doha Round.