India is confident that it will be able to persuade members of the 160-strong WTO to understand its concerns over food security, which derailed a global trade deal last week, the country’s trade minister said.
Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman told the nation’s parliament that the Bali trade accord, an agreement reached on the Indonesian island last year, should be concluded as a package, linking India’s ratification of a trade-facilitation treaty to movement on a parallel treaty on its stockpiling of food.
“I am confident that India will be able to persuade the WTO membership to appreciate the sensitivities of India and other developing countries and see their way to take this issue forward in a positive spirit,” she said, amid thumping of desks by legislators.
Photo: AFP
The new national government led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vetoed the adoption of a treaty to simplify, standardize and streamline the regulations for shipping goods across borders, having previously agreed to its terms at the ministerial conference in Bali in December last year.
After drawing widespread condemnation, India has since said it is ready to sign the global trade deal as early as next month if other WTO members agree to its demand for concessions on food subsidies, estimated at US$12 billion a year.
“India is not standing in way of implementation of trade facilitation, but seeking an equal level of commitment and progress in working on the issue of public stockholding,” Sitharaman said.
“A permanent solution on food security is a must for us and we cannot wait endlessly in a state of uncertainty while the WTO engages in an academic debate on the subject of food security,” she said.
India fears that once it agrees to trade facilitation — largely seen to help advanced nations — it would have lost its bargaining chip on the subsidy issue.
Separately, India’s central bank says it sees signs of recovery in Asia’s third-largest economy, even though the monsoon season, which is crucial for agriculture, had a weak start.
The Reserve Bank of India yesterday maintained its key interest rate at 8 percent, maintaining a tough stance against stubbornly high inflation.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said data on industrial growth and exports have been positive, but a slow start to the monsoon season could drive up food costs.
That would hurt the hundreds of millions of poor Indians who live on less than US$2 per day, he added.
Rajan has maintained a hard line against inflation despite pressure to cut interest rates to revive flagging growth.
Wholesale inflation eased to 5.4 percent in June.
Additional reporting by AP
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