India gets ready to talk tough at WTO

Abhijit Neogy , CNBC-TV18

Delegate level talks begin at the WTO in Geneva next week, but negotiators admit the chances of a breakthrough are slim. Now India wants corporates to lobby directly to wrangle a better deal.

Tough negotiations lie ahead as India gets ready for delgate level WTO talks in Geneva. The government hopes to push the WTO secretariat to revise texts on industrial tariffs and agriculture before the proposed mini-ministerial towards end-June.
 
GK Pillai, Commerce Secretary, said, "The next 30 days are going to be crucial, because of the considerable differences, there has to be a considerable hardening of stand on our part."

But it's not just the government who will be talking. This time Indian negotiators at the WTO want states and corporates to lobby directly just as industry bodies do in the United States and the European Union.

The Commerce Secretary said, "We will be appealing to industry as well as agriculture to support us in our negotiations. We will try to get all states sensitised to our agri position and will try and get the agri ministry on board."

But Indian negotiators are not confident of any results. The pessimism is not unfounded because the US senate has just passed the new US farm bill mandating agri subsidies to be a whopping USD 289 billion over the next five years.

The US has also hardened its position on industrial tariffs. In a statement issued yesterday, the US Trade Representative Susan Schwab has said that the US would want to know what kind of tariff cuts countries like India will undertake before it makes its move.

The only silver lining is that the chairman of the NAMA negotiations has promised to reduce the area of divergences in the area of industrial tariffs. Indian negotiators say India isn't going to be rushed into a deal in June if it goes against national interests. The Commerce Secretary is clear no deal is better than a bad deal.