Understanding the Domestic and International Economic Drivers

Abstract: India’s stance at the WTO has undergone a sea change since the beginning of the Uruguay Round of the multilateral trade negotiations. This paper attempts to trace the shifting coordinates of India’s position at the WTO. By focussing on three specific areas of negotiations, namely agriculture, services and TRIPS, the paper presents a political economy analysis of how India’s stance at the WTO has evolved over time and what have been the underlying key drivers, both domestic and international, responsible for this shifting position. We show that domestic drivers have played the critical role in shaping India’s stance at the WTO, while the role of economic diplomacy cannot be ignored either. The paper concludes that India’s heightened profile at the WTO at the present juncture, along with its economic success and material capability, presents an unprecedented opportunity to use the platform of WTO negotiations as a major foreign policy instrument to play a constructive leadership role. I. India at the WTO: A Brief Overview India remained a virtually closed economy for nearly four decades after it