This book addresses the complex issues pertaining to WTO agreements and negotiations, and provides a rigorous analysis of the impact of WTO-induced reforms on the Indian economy. It also outlines what India’s strategic thinking ought to be in future multilateral negotiations under the WTO, keeping in view their long-term economic goals. Bringing together the work of several economists and policy thinkers, the volume sheds light on several questions.
A brief historical overview of the WTO presents the readers with the necessary background. The book is divided into six thematic sections. Section I analyses the perspective of developing countries, with special reference to India. Section II addresses various negotiating options and strategies. India’s sectoral interests in market access are dealt with in Section III. Section IV looks at issues of trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement. Issues such as TRIPS and the GATS are considered in Section V. Finally, Section VI focuses on issues of poverty and income inequality.
The volume provides a sound economic analysis of India’s proactive role in the revival of the WTO negotiations. It will be a valuable reference to scholars and students in understanding the causality between actual economic events and WTO-induced economic reforms.
Acknowledgement ix List of Abbreviations xi Short explanations of terms xii
Introduction Alokesh Barua and Robert M. Stern
Section I: A Developing CountriesPerspective 1. The WTO and Trade Negotiations: A Developing Country Viewpoint Manoj Pant 2. The WTO and our Role in the World Economy of the Future Ashok Guha
Section II: Negotiating OptionsandStrategies 3. India and Coalitions in Multilateral Trade Negotiations Manmohan Agarwal 4. Searching for the Missing Link: India’s ‘Negotiation Strategy’ at WTO? Debashis Chakraborty 5. Designing a Pro-active Stance for India in the Doha Development Agenda Negotiations Alan V. Deardorff and Robert M. Stern 6. India at Doha: Retrospect and Prospect Arvind Panagariya
Section III: Market Access:Agriculture, ManufacturesandTextiles 7. WTO Agriculture Negotiations and India Ramesh Chand 8. Trade and Industrial Performance Since the WTO Reforms: 140What Indian Evidences Suggest? Alokesh Barua, Debashis Chakraborty and Pavel Chakraborty 9. How Big is the Bang for India? Market Access in Textiles Samar Verma
Section IV: Trade Facilitation andGovernment Procurement 10. Regional Integration through Trade Facilitation: Integrating East India with Bangladesh andNorth India with Central Asia Pritam Banerjee, Dipankar Sengupta and Phunchok Stobdan 11. Transparency in Government Procurement: A Case Study of India Sandwip Kumar Das
Section V: TRIPS and GATS 12. The TRIPS Agreement: Public Health Concerns for India Amit Shovon Ray 13. GATS and India: Negotiations in Mode 3 Rashmi Banga 14. GATS Negotiations in Environmental Services: A developing country perspective with special reference to India Aparna Sawhney
Section VI: Growth, Poverty andInequality 15. Trade and Poverty in the Poor Countries Jagdish Bhagwati and T. N. Srinivasan 16. Globalization, Growth and the Poor T. N. Srinivasan and Jessica Seddon Wallack 17. Income Distribution, Structural Change and International Trade: A Developing CountriesPerspective with Special Reference to India Ananya Ghosh Dastidar 18. Trade Liberalization and Income Inequality: An Analysis of Inter-Regional Income Inequality in India Alokesh Barua and Pavel Chakraborty
Complete Bibliography List of Contributors Index