India's Changing Stance at Current WTO Negotiations

Abstract

India has become an important actor during the Doha Development Round. In Cancun Ministerial in September 2003 it began forming coalitions with like minded member countries in its main areas of interest. The most remarkable alliance is the G-20, constituted of developing countries and focusing mainly on agriculture. Next to agriculture, non-agriculture market access (NAMA) and trade in services constitute the major pillars of Doha negotiations. The G-20 was established on 20 August 2003, in the final stages of the preparations for the fifth Ministerial conference of the WTO, held in Cancun, from 10 to 14 September 2003. The intention of the founding members was to avoid a predetermined result at Cancun and to open up a space for negotiations in agriculture. The present paper seeks to focus on India’s changing stance in Doha Developmental Agenda by focusing on one of the areas of the negotiation that is agriculture. The paper tries to examine India’s stance on agriculture negotiation right from its launch in November 2001 in Doha, Qatar to the failure of the negotiations in July 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland.