EVENTS

China applied to join the World Trade Organization in 1986 and, after 15 years of negotiations, acceded at the WTO’s Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha in December 2001. Its accession protocol reflected sweeping commitments on market access and implementation of WTO agreements, India was among the few countries that did not seek market-access concessions from China during the negotiations under the Vajpayee government. While India often dominated smaller WTO negotiating groups for arriving at decisions, China maintained a low profile between 2002 and 2008. It was only in 2008 that Beijing entered the inner circle discussions. Thereafter, China increasingly championed developing-country concerns, culminating in its strong defense of the Doha Development Agenda at the WTO’s Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in 2015. By contrast, India remained largely silent as the United States and the European Union effectively dismantled the Doha Round. From the WTO’s Eleventh Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in 2017, China gradually shifted toward positions favored by major industrialized economies. It became active in plurilateral negotiations on digital trade, MSME disciplines, and investment facilitation. India opposed China’s Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) initiative on procedural and systemic grounds, highlighting the widening divergence between the two countries at the WTO. Despite briefly joining forces in 2018 against attempts by the Trump administration to weaken the WTO’s dispute settlement system, India and China increasingly pursued competing agendas. Today, the WTO risks becoming an “à la carte” instrument for the US, China, and the European Union to selectively impose Washington Consensus style obligations on developing countries.

Speaker

D. Ravi Kanth is a Geneva-based journalist specializing in international trade and economic policy. Since moving to Switzerland in 1997, he has written for Washington Trade Daily (WTD), South-North Development Monitor (SUNS)-published by the Third World Network in Penang-The Wire, The Federal, Economic & Political Weekly, and Asia Times. Previously, he worked with PTI, India Post, The Independent, The Economic Times, and Business Standard. He provides daily analysis on WTO and global trade developments for WTD and SUNS. Kanth’s signature contribution is his unapologetically developing country focused reporting. Rather than pose as a neutral observer, he holds powerful nations and institutions accountable, amplifying the concerns of poorer nations. More than a reporter, he is an investigative analyst and an advocate for transparency and fairness. His work offers a critical counter-narrative to Western-dominated trade coverage, ensuring that the voices and interests of the Global South remain central in Geneva’s international halls of power.

Chair

Biswajit Dhar is a Development Economist and former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was Director General of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries and played a key role in establishing and leading the Centre for WTO Studies. He has represented India in major multilateral negotiations, including the WTO, UNFCCC, WIPO, and CBD, and has served on expert groups for various international organisations. Professor Dhar has been a consultant to UNCTAD, UNESCAP, UNDP, ILO, WHO, and the South Centre, and is widely published in national and international journals. He is a regular columnist, and has served on the Board of Directors of the EXIM Bank of India, and advises several trade and IPR-focused institutions.

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