India thwarts Chinese bid to push investment agenda at WTO meet
India and South Africa called this proposal against the WTO system where trade is discussed and not investment
Abu Dhabi: India has thwarted a major Chinese agenda from being discussed at the 13th WTO Ministerial. China had tried to include investment facilities and concessions in the discussion. During the talks on development agenda, India stopped the move saying it was against the WTO system. After the objections on its inclusion in the agenda, the possibility of discussion became slim.
On the second day of talks, there was discussion on the development agenda which is the main topic of these conferences. This meeting turned into China vs India. About 125 countries including China have formed an opinion on the Investment Facilitation Development Draft in which member countries will promote mutual investment. Along with China, South Korea and Chile are also taking this proposal forward.
India and South Africa called this proposal against the WTO system where trade is discussed and not investment. They said that this is only a consensus reached by a group of countries, it is not an agreement. Therefore, it cannot be part of the agenda.
Opposition to making WTO investments a part of negotiations has been going on since 1996. In 2004, it was decided that there would be no discussion on investment until the Doha Round agenda was implemented. However, WTO’s stance changed in the Nairobi meeting in 2015. It was then decided that if all the members agreed, then new issues would be included. The Indian side indicated that after the protests, the possibility of including it in the agenda has ended.
China’s activeness in the talks is quite noteworthy. China’s stance on fishing subsidies is also deadlocked as it gives the maximum subsidy.
There are deep disagreements not only with China but with the US too. US does not agree to the proposal to reduce taxes on remittances from Indians living abroad. The European community had earlier supported it but is now coming up with some new options.
Sources say that America is not even ready to improve the appellate mechanism in WTO dispute resolution system.