India at the Doha ministerial meeting: an analysis

Abstract

The outcome of the Fourth Session of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Conference at Doha, 9–13 November 2001, has been a mixed bag. On a balance, however, it seemed to have achieved more than anticipated gains for India in select critical and contentious areas. In the period preceding the Ministerial Conference, generally opposing views on issues to be included in the agenda for negotiations were discernible. Whilst the DMD (Draft Ministerial Declaration) that aimed at charting the immediate agenda for negotiation at the Ministerial Conference did not explicitly mention a new round of trade negotiations, it covered all the issues that clearly pointed towards a broad-based agenda being imminent. India and some other developing countries continued to oppose the launch of a new round. They stressed the resolution of commitments made under the Uruguay Round before an expansion of the scope of multilateral trade negotiations to include other issues, such as investment, competition policy, transparency in government procurement, trade facilitation, labour, and environment. On the other hand, developed countries, particularly the United States and the EU (European Union) strongly favoured the launch of a new round of trade negotiations that would address these issues. The focus of this paper is on a preand post-Doha analysis of what India set out to achieve for itself and its successes and failures. Further, the paper attempts to outline pragmatically some directions for the future.