Why has India taken a firm stand against the plurilateral agreement on investment facilitation at the World Trade Organization? Analyse (200 Words)
Refer - Financial Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 3 years
KEY POINTS
· A group of over 100 WTO member countries are deliberating on a proposal to have a plurilateral agreement on investment facilitation to be finalised at this ministerial conference.
· The agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development being negotiated by a group of over 100 WTO members under a plurilateral mode has been evolving and the visible result
· India’s reservations against the investment facilitation discussions on the sidelines of the WTO are twofold: (a) Investment doesn’t belong to the WTO: To the extent investment is related to trade it is already included in the TRIMs agreement and under mode 3 related to FDI in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
· India has naturally not participated in the discussions and has not formally commented on the successive texts.
· A close look at the likely provisions, however, indicates the following: (a) The phrase ‘investment facilitation for development’ is evidently a misnomer.
· The proposed agreement would be too burdensome for developing countries and LDCs, because nearly all of the obligations that may be created are on host countries.
· The objective of the proponents now is evidently to hoist investment on the WTO agenda in an elementary and apparently harmless form as investment facilitation.
K. V. A 3 years
Pls review
IAS Parliament 3 years
Try to emphasize more on India's opposition, features of the agreement is not needed. Keep Writing.
