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Informist, Monday, May 4, 2026

NEW DELHI – India needs to independently pursue trade pacts as countries are not willing to have deep agreements and give consessions at the World Trade Organisation, Darpan Jain, additional secretary, department of commerce, said Tuesday. "At WTO, the kind of membership we have, I think countries are not willing to give concessions and enter into deep agreements," Jain said at an event by the Chintan Research Foundation and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations in New Delhi. "So, FTAs, which are built up on the WTO framework have become increasingly common and we are seeing more than 350 FTAs in the last five years. India has also taken a lead on that."

The World Trade Organisation's 14th Ministerial Conference held from Mar. 26–30 in Cameroon ended with deep institutional strains, including a defunct dispute settlement system, an impasse in multilateral organisations and sharp disagreement on the merits of plurilateral alternatives. 

The official does not expect the World Trade Organization to set up a dispute settlement system soon. Since 2009, the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism has not been functioning properly as the US has stalled appointments of members in the appellate body. The World Trade Organization members have agreed not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions since 1998, and the moratorium has been periodically extended at successive ministerial conferences. At the March conference India had called upon members to work towards making the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system to be fully functional. 
 

Jain further added that India is alone in pushing for the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement at the World Trade Organization. "There are some issues on which India is alone, for example, investment facilitation for development, India is the lone member," Jain said, adding there were other countries with lone positions at the WTO and India also supported positions with multiple others. "Being alone is not wrong, having a justified, reasonable position on something is important."

He further added that one should not get an impression that India was looking to leave the World Trade Organization or it is not important. "WTO has to deliver on key areas of interest for all member countries," he said. Jain also said that India is making all efforts to ensure that the World Trade Organization delivers on India's interests and is focussing on builing its strategic depth in the electronics manufacturing segment. 

Further, India is currently discussing trade pacts with the Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-member West Asian trade bloc, and the MERCOSUR bloc and has started trade pact discussion with some African nations as well, he said. In February, India and the Gulf Cooperation Council signed a joint statement on a Free Trade Agreement, formally launching negotiations for a comprehensive trade deal. 

India's current free trade agreements cover around two-thirds of its exports, Jain said, adding that one needs to do much more in implementing the United Arab Emirates and Australia trade pacts. End

Reported by Pratiksha and Aaryan Khanna

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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