-Live Mint The national food security law is in trouble from an unlikely source The outcome of the World Trade Organization (WTO) summit at Bali has been projected as a great victory for the Indian government by its spokespersons. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In exchange for a temporary reprieve on its food support programme, India has bartered away the bargaining chip of trade facilitation, which Western negotiators demanded. The...
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Why beg at Bali? -Uttam Gupta
-The Indian Express India faces no risk of violating its commitments under WTO The Indian delegation, led by commerce minister Anand Sharma, is approaching the WTO Ministerial in Bali with a ‘begging bowl'. The government has agreed to the so-called ‘peace clause'-a euphemism for not taking any penal action for violating commitments under Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)-proposed by WTO Director General but with the caveat that this will remain in place until...
More »Victory for India, food security programme intact in Bali deal
-The Hindustan Times As a teary-eyed World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Roberto Azevedo hailed the landmark trade deal at Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday after five days of gruelling negotiations, it was India, led by commerce minister Anand Sharma, who won plaudits for successfully piloting the grand-bargain for drawing up a permanent solution to food subsidies. The deal also makes it mandatory for member countries - as part of a trade facilitation agreement...
More »US opposition to ambitious Indian program a 'direct attack on the right to food'-Timothy A Wise
-GlobalPost.com Opinion: The Obama administration's objection to India's newly approved Food Security Act is an act of hypocrisy. BALI, Indonesia - In the lead-up to this week's World Trade Organization negotiations, the Obama administration has tried to block the implementation of a new program approved by the Indian government that could help feed its 830 million hungry people in a cost-effective way. The Obama administration's objection to the program is a direct attack...
More »India needs to show flexibility at WTO's Bali ministerial as its collapse has long-term consequences
-The Times of India Commerce minister Anand Sharma deserves our sympathy. Driven by the way India's domestic politics is playing out, he is fast emerging as the person who has become the face of the country that, in Bali, threatens to kill WTO's Doha round after 12 years of fruitless negotiations. It need not be this way. India needs to show more flexibility at this moment as long-term consequences of a...
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