India at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting in Doha

The document explores India’s stance at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Meeting in Doha (2001), focusing on the key trade battles between developed and developing nations. It highlights how major economies like the EU and the US pushed to introduce new trade negotiations on investment, competition policy, and environmental and labor standards. However, India and several developing countries pushed back, arguing that before discussing new commitments, the WTO should first address existing trade imbalances, particularly in agriculture, textiles, and market access.

The Doha meeting came at a crucial time, with global uncertainty and the failure of the Seattle Ministerial (1999) still fresh in memory. While developed nations wanted to expand the WTO’s role, India believed that a fairer deal for developing countries was more important than rushing into new negotiations. India laid out a clear four-point test for adding new issues to WTO talks: they must be directly trade-related, have broad support, be thoroughly studied, and genuinely help developing economies.

On agriculture, India championed a “Food Security Box” to protect its farmers from unfair competition and pressed developed nations to cut their high tariffs and eliminate export subsidies. When it came to intellectual property rights (TRIPs), India made a strong case for ensuring access to affordable medicines, arguing that public health should always come before corporate profits.

In the end, the document suggests that while India was right to resist unfair trade rules, it also needed to stay engaged in negotiations. Instead of simply saying “no” to a new round, India could use the talks to push for fairer trade policies that genuinely benefit its economy and people.

Keywords: WTO (World Trade Organization), Ministerial Conference, Doha, Investment, Competition Policy, Government Procurement, Trade and Environment, Agriculture, Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), Market Access