Success of the Ministerial meeting depends on the WTO members putting together the broad contours of a deal by August.
India scored a remarkable win on food security, but trade partners will now put pressure on New Delhi to provide meaningful openings for industrial goods and services and be more accommodative on liberalising tariffs.
Agreement 'endorsed' by members and being legally vetted but will be part of the main Doha agenda only after a tenuous process.
Trade ministers from 162 WTO countries will gather in Kenya's capital from Dec. 15-18 to work on an agreement to liberalise global trade.
According to a senior commerce department official, though India is ready to sign the TFA and take necessary actions towards that, it is imperative that a discussion on public stockholding gets its due importance.
Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, Chair of the Ninth Ministerial Conference, and the three Vice Chairs, in a joint statement, urged 'all WTO members to come together over the next few days to make the necessary breakthroughs, working closely with WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo.'
The Cabinet on Thursday approved the stand taken by India at the recently concluded WTO meeting in Bali which endorsed New Delhi's point of view with regard to food security plan and trade facilitation pact.
Under the TFA, a proposal of developed countries, WTO members are negotiating ways to facilitate trade, simplify and harmonise customs rules and reduce transactions cost. Although India is willing to negotiate on TFA, it has raised few concerns over the proposed agreement.
A visibly elated Sharma said the decision gave India complete protection even if it breached the food subsidy limit under WTO rules
WTO's new director has said that the issue needs to be addressed in a positive manner.
Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal is set to attend a two-day meeting from October 23 at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, that would focus on finding solutions and giving the 'necessary political push' for at least some crucial global trade issues. Next week's meeting comes ahead of the WTO's 13th ministerial conference (MC13), scheduled in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. It will see participation of senior government officials from all WTO member nations.
For the first time in the last eight years, India would not have any representative for the post of deputy director general.
In an interview with Nayanima Basu, the DG lauds the efforts of Indian negotiators in bringing the deal on the table.
India rejected the proposed interim measure and trade facilitation agreement, risking an outright collapse of the ongoing talks.
The G20 declaration, which hit snags on the language to describe the Ukraine war, amounted to a 'coup' for host Prime Minister Narendra Modi though the final compromise statement reflected a stand far softer than those the United States and its Western allies have adopted on Russia, the world media said on Sunday.
So far, WTO members have jointly respected and honoured the Bali commitments.
The prime minister said a stable global economic and financial system is imperative for growth as it promotes inclusive and sustainable growth.
India did not yield any major ground on trade facilitation while it managed to successfully push its stand on food security issues through the WTO meeting in Bali, a top official said.
The study paper by Melbourne-based think-tank Australia India Institute titled 'The G20: Challenges and opportunities Ahead', said following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US and his talks with US President Barack Obama, India may finally sign the agreement.
The fate of the ministerial conference was sealed after assistant US trade representative Sharon Bomer Lauritsen said permanent solution to the food stockholding issue was not acceptable to America.
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The decision preceded long hours of tense negotiations and last minute hiccups from Argentina and Pakistan
"Reports of PM Modi not meeting Putin due to nuclear threat is baseless. The meeting is not taking place due to scheduling issues," sources told ANI.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
The ED probe into alleged money laundering by crypto exchange WazirX and the subsequent squabbling among its promoters has revealed the 'darker side' of cryptocurrencies, a top government source said on Thursday. The source added that people should exercise caution in absence of a regulation to govern cryptocurrencies and so-called exchanges trading in them. "Caution is the word that should be in the minds of the people dealing with crypto. "In the episode of WazirX, people got to know many darker sides, caution is necessary in crypto transaction," the source said.
The Indian government has demanded that the year be changed to a more recent period, taking into consideration the rise in food prices and rate of inflation.
Ahead of the crucial third round of discussions, the opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday exuded confidence that it would provide a formidable alternative to bring political change in the country and asserted that it has several prime ministerial faces against BJP's only one.
'To get a 100 per cent consensus document without any reservation, any bracket, any chair summary is unprecedented in the history of multilateral forums.'
The Indonesian Minister's comments assume significance as she is also a candidate for the position of Director General, World Trade Organisation.
The 10th ministerial conference, will be held at Nairobi, Kenya.
Critics have even suggested that India is doing this because it is not prepared to take on the requirements of TFA, with a relatively weak trade infrastructure.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
Blinken will also attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad grouping and will hold bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in Delhi.
The success of the Bali Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation in the first week of December in 2013 will mean that in 2014 countries will identify areas for early conclusion so that within the next two years, the Doha Agenda of the WTO -- which has remained in a limbo for long -- can be concluded.
India will look to play a key role in the APEC, EU and Africa regions to increase its competitiveness.
The Himachal Congress on Wednesday said party chief Sonia Gandhi will only decide the name of the chief ministerial candidate.
In a turn of events, India on Friday said it was "hopeful" talks for a global deal on easing Customs norms, or a trade facilitation agreement (TFA), would be revived in September, even as it failed to meet the July 31 deadline due to lack of consensus among members over food stockholding and farm subsidies.
Hailing the agreement reached between India and the US aimed at resolving the stalemate over the WTO trade facilitation pact, Australia on Friday said the gains from the deal once it is sealed are "significant" and the developing nations would be its Hailing the agreement reached between India and the US aimed at resolving the stalemate over the WTO trade facilitation pact, Australia on Friday said the gains from the deal once it is sealed are "significant" and the developing nations would be its biggest beneficiaries.biggest beneficiaries.
Anand Sharma, who will lead the delegation to Bali, said a group of 33 countries were supporting India's stand on the food subsidy programme which he said was 'sacrosanct, non- negotiable.'
India and other developing nations, on the other hand, want the peace clause until a permanent solution is found on the matter for smooth implementation of the food security programme.
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