Key Points
New Delhi, Oct 19 (PTI) India on Thursday told WTO members that its success in feeding a large population demonstrates the countrys understanding of what is best for developing nations at the negotiation table, an official said...
It is time for some developed members to abandon the higher moral ground, the Geneva-based official said...
In recent negotiations, India, along with 80 World Trade Organization (WTO) members, has made it clear that the focus of the outcome on agriculture at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in February 2024 should centre around a food security package, with a solution for public stockholding at its core...
India supported the Chairs approach to initiate discussions element by element and suggested incorporating additional elements in the future, such as the external reference prices (ERPs) used to assess the amount of stocks, currently based on prices from 1986-1988, the official said.. New Delhi also said it has never been a wheat importer but managed to provide its neighbours with around 200 tonnes of wheat in 2020-2021 during the pandemic...
It asserted that public stockholding cannot be discussed in isolation from food security, stating that there is no evidence from challengers that Indias wheat exports were either harming the food security of other countries or distorting trade, the official said.. India also asked some members to set aside the arrogance by denying Indias way of contributing to food security in its own country and others, the official said.. India said, Gone are the days when we were the discipline taker and we had no knowledge and wisdom to talk about a subject that concerns us..
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