India begins well at WTO conference in Nairobi

India has made all the right noises on the second day of the all-important ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation that began in Nairobi on December 15th.

The address of Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the plenary session of the Ministerial has given a clear indication that India is looking for a continuation of the existing development round agenda before the WTO. It has also made clear that it does not favour the introduction of "new issues" until the negotiations over the existing agenda gets concluded.

The minister's address will define the nature of the discussions that are to follow till 18th as these two issues have been the sore points of debate all through. While the developing countries, in general, are favouring similar demands, the developed bloc has been threatening to scuttle the possibility of any consensus at the Nairobi Ministerial if the discussions do not go beyond the current agenda. The developed nations led by the US even want the Doha Development Agenda scrapped. Sitharaman's firm statement has to be seen from this context.

"The DDA may have run into obstacles but it is in our collective interest to continue to work on all pillars, keeping its development dimension intact. We are of the firm view that this Ministerial must clearly re-affirm the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and all Ministerial Declarations and Decisions taken since 2001 when we launched the Doha Round. These are all important. Let us not waste time negotiating which of these we should reaffirm and welcome," the minister stated.

The key areas where India and other developing countries are looking for a breakthrough are on the institution of a special safeguard mechanism for developing countries and for changing the rules relating to public stockholding for food security purposes. Both the demands were brought upfront by the minister in her speech. What she did not say, though was what India, at least, would be willing to give back to get developed countries agree to such a provision.

The only element in the minister's speech that could be of interest to the developed world is India's willingness to open up the services sector for growth as well as job creation. Services will therefore be definitely an important component of the final outcome of the Ministerial meeting.

India has also welcomed a strong least developed country (LDC) package for adoption at this Ministerial. Given the fact that the meeting is taking place in Africa, LDC package is one of the certain outcomes.