Key Points
Rashomon, the classic 1954 film by Japanese director Akiro Kurosawa, narrates four different perspectives of a crime. The Rashomon Effect aptly applies to varying accounts of the recently concluded 13th Ministerial Conference (MC-13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), with much commentary in the Western media holding India as a spoiler even as Indian write-ups provided justification for the countrys positions..
Ten days after MC-13 ended, the signing of the India-EFTA trade deal on 10 March marked Indias fourth significant free trade agreement (FTA) in recent times, following the deals with Australia, the UAE and Mauritius..
The WTOs agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property, apart from a framework for settling disputes, and M-13 featured several contentious issues on which greater clarity will be needed to ensure outcomes at the next meeting..
However, in the past few years, countries like India, South Africa and Indonesia have emphasized the need for review, noting that the moratorium and its expanded interpretation should not stymie digital industrialization in developing countries..
Developing countries including India have demanded a moratorium on NVCs under the WTOs TRIPS agreement on trade-related intellectual property rights..
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