New Delhi, April 2 India stood alone at the recently concluded WTO meeting in Cameroon in opposing a China-led proposal on the Investment Facilitation for Development agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, asserting that it is 'better to stand alone for the right than to be in a crowd just to look good'.
The Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) agreement was first mooted in 2017 by China and other countries that heavily rely on Chinese investments, as well as countries with sovereign wealth funds.
At the 14th ministerial conference in Yaounde, Cameroon, barring India, all the countries supported the agreement, which provides global benchmarks to support the efforts of members who are parties to the agreement to improve the investment and business climate and make it easier for investors in all sectors of the economy to invest, conduct their day-to-day business, and expand their operations.
India will stand alone against this contentious issue and did not agree to its incorporation into the WTO framework as an Annex 4 Agreement.
Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement contains plurilateral trade agreements that are binding only on the WTO members that have accepted them, unlike the mandatory multilateral agreements.
"Sometimes you have to walk alone in life, and that's why I started my conversation on IFD at WTO with Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy. That when you stand for what is right, it is better to stand alone than to be in a crowd just to look good," Goyal told reporters here.
He said it is important to protect India's interests and the multilateral character and consensus-building approach of the WTO.
"It is important that we do not let issues which are not a part of the mandate of the WTO creep into the WTO agreement, and therefore India stood on its principles and what we believe is right. But because of that, it has not changed the dimension of our multi-faceted relationship with any other set of countries or any other country," Goyal said, adding he explained in great detail India's position and stand to other countries "by and large people have appreciated it".
He also said that investment has to be linked to trade to enjoy the fruits of the WTO.
"... Proper guardrails should come into the plurilateral system, or we should multilateralize the investment facilitation or promotion after everybody is on board with consensus," he said.
On the extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmission, he said India reiterated that the extension will be co-terminus, and it must align with the TRIPS non-violation moratorium.
The ministerial meeting in Cameroon ended on March 30 as the members failed to reach a consensus on the extension of the moratorium.
"We do hope that an amicable solution can be found in the near future (on this)," he said.
The final Yaonde package will be finalized at Geneva in the General Council meeting, where "we will finalize the WTO reform declaration and work plan, the e-commerce moratorium and work plan, the ministerial decision on moratorium on TRIPS, non-violation, and the LDC package," Goyal said.
He said India is of the view that to bring more certainty and predictability to businesses, the WTO members must this time consider a longer term for the e-commerce moratorium.
"This is still under discussion amongst various countries, and will be finalized in the next month or two in Geneva," he said, adding, "India's stand was that we should look at a little longer period, so that businesses can plan their business activities for a longer period".
When asked whether he was disappointed with the pace of WTO discussions on the public stockholding issue and the e-commerce definition, the minister said India has a robust permanent peace clause, and there is no reason to be disappointed.
He added that "we continue to persevere for a final solution on stockholding or e-commerce moratorium, but it's not a life and death issue".
