When analysed through its engagement in bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), the NDA government’s foreign trade policy during its ten years in office can best be described as a story of essentially two phases of sharply contrasting stands. Soon after it took office, the government developed a strong anti-FTA bias, reflected in its clear intent to review the three major FTAs that were being implemented, with the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, and the Republic of Korea. The arguments for doing so, of course, had clear political overtones: that the previous UPA government, which had endorsed these agreements, had done so…

The 13^th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization ended in Abu Dhabi with minimal consensus. MC13 was scheduled to end on February 29 but was extended by a day as the WTO’s 166 members failed to reach consensus on several key issues, such as agriculture, fisheries subsidies, ending the moratorium on e-commerce trade, and dispute settlement reform.

Despite high hopes, MC13 failed to deliver positive results for the global trading system amid worsening geopolitical tensions and economic headwinds. Except for a last-minute deal to extend the moratorium on e-commerce trade for two years (until MC14), MC13 ended without a decision on a permanent…

With less than a week to go until the World Trade Organization’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13), to be held in Abu Dhabi from February 26, consensus from all members on support for the proposed Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) is still missing. The proposed IFDA has thus far received the support of three-quarters of WTO members, while some prominent members, such as India and South Africa, have opposed this initiative and may not give their consent to the proposed IFDA at MC13.

The supporting countries, led by China, seek to incorporate the proposed agreement into the WTO rulebook as a standalone plurilateral agreement under Annex…

Hectic parleys are currently underway to incorporate a new agreement on investment facilitation at the World Trade Organization after 112 WTO members concluded text negotiations on an Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) on 6 July 2023. WTO members participating in the talks on IFDA hope that the proposed agreement will reach another important milestone at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) to be held in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. The Ministerial Conference is the WTO’s highest decision-making body, attended by trade ministers and other senior officials from the organization’s 164 members.

However, the prospects of achieving another major milestone at MC13 remain bleak as…

On the eve of the 27^th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that took place in Egypt last month, the World Trade Organization (WTO) released a report titled, “The World Trade Report 2022: Climate Change and International Trade”, highlighting the importance of global trade rules for arresting global warming.

Coincidentally, three decades back, WTO’s predecessor organisation, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had done likewise to showcase the relevance of trade rules for protecting the environment when the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), or the “Earth Summit”, was drawing up a comprehensive set…