However a special issue on which the whole world was waiting
for Indias response came at the Ministers special address to the Cairns group, in Bali Shri Anand Sharma, has reiterated the Indian commitment to the
successful conclusion of the Doha process through a constructive engagement. He
emphasized the resumption of negotiations based on the draft reports on
Agriculture and NAMA, also aspirations of all developing countries for a fair
trading regime must be recognized.
And then the 18th meeting of the BIMSTEC Trade
Negotiating Committee (TNC) which was held in Phuket, Thailand, from the 2nd to
4th June, 2009 with the primary aim of bringing the discussions on the text of
the Agreement on Trade in Goods to a closure and expedite the way towards an
early implementation of the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement. The meeting was a success
to the extent that all contentious issues in the FTA text were resolved to the
mutual satisfaction of all participants.
Now with positive communications coming from various
ministries at the global arena whether the Kyoto, G-20, BRIC and various other
conferences Indias candidature was accepted and considered significant for
world trade making this south Asian tiger roaring his views to the World.
Required Paradigm Shift:
Now when ball is in the court of developing countries, this
is high time to join hands and avoid protectionist tendencies which some
developed countries in times of economic downturn have adopted.
Secondly it's time to finish the Doha Round and a consensus
should be formed among the nations to do it ASAP. After several years of
arduous negotiations under the auspices of the Doha Round if it was implemented
the various important accomplishments will begin reforming world trade in
agriculture, bringing distorting domestic policies as well as trade policies
regarding agriculture, however, then it will become much more modest which
originally hoped and provides for a long adjustment period before countries
have to do much about reforming their domestic agricultural programs.
Thirdly, one should not forget that around the world diplomacy
and bureaucracy have actually joined hands to fight against financial crises
and terrorism, which shows the interest of various nations to solve problems by
joining hands not that one nation taking a stand.
Finally, it is important to emphasize again the value of
trading agreements which everyone is sure that provide global trade
liberalization and yields substantially larger economic benefits, including
benefits to agriculture. Thus, it becomes important to rejuvenate among the
nations a trust and avoid measures like protectionism etc while increasing them
will emerge as an element of less trade and hit by and large the current
international political economy, which is not a desirable outcome in itself.
The views mentioned are personal.
Source: Press Release Ministry of Commerce
and Industry, Ministry of External Affairs and various newspapers.
