The Economic Times of India
OFFICIALLY, the Cabinet has endorsed commerce and industry minister Murasoli Marans tough stand on the forthcoming ministerial level talks of the WTO at Doha. Thats the bad news. The good news is that the Cabinet has also asked Maran toprepare a fall-back position. That is a substantial shift from the earlier rigid stance of no talks without first addressing implementation issues. Both Pakistan and Malaysia, supporters till fairly recently, have deserted us; not that their support ever meant very much, given their measly combined weight in world trade. Even so, the fact is we are now well and truly isolated. A rigid stance could, perhaps, have been justified in the run up to the talks as part of a broader negotiating strategy, when we did not wish to appear as though we are ceding ground without getting anything in return. But not any longer; certainly not when a new round looks almost a certainty given the much greater agreement between the US and the EU. In the changed circumstances, Indias opposition counts for nothing. It is good the government has recognised as much. Unfortunately, the realisation has come too late in the day to do us much good. Our minimalist strategy to date has left the field open for negotiators of other countries to define the details of the new agreements. The result is that, as in the past, India may be forced to accept agreements that do not take care of its interests. It is far wiser for us to adopt a more flexible approach and see how best we can influence the talks to serve our own interests. That should not be too difficult since the draft documents recently released by the WTO are a marked improvement over earlier WTO documents. For one, they provide for retention of status quo in areas where substantial differences remain. The document on implementation, in particular, divides the issues between those that can be addressed immediately and those that can be addressed later. This should have sufficed to put at rest most of the commerce ministrys fears. On foreign investment and competition policies, two other contentious issues, the draft document retains the option of continuing with the existing study programmes. This is a significant change from the past. It is for India to take maximum advantage of these changes instead of sitting on its high horse.:
