India should adopt dual-track trade strategy at WTO, say experts

Trade policy experts, at a seminar organised by Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (IC...

What Happened

Trade policy experts, at a seminar organised by Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) on May 5, 2026, urged India to adopt a dual-track strategy at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The dual-track approach involves simultaneously defending the core WTO multilateral rules-based system while selectively engaging in plurilateral negotiations that serve India's economic and strategic interests.
The seminar was held in the context of WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) outcomes and deliberated on the future of multilateralism and implications for India's trade agenda.
India has historically declined to join several plurilateral negotiations at the WTO — including those on Investment Facilitation for Development and E-commerce — citing concerns that such agreements could marginalise developing countries and undermine the multilateral system.
Experts argued that India's continued non-participation risks leaving it outside frameworks that are increasingly shaping global trade rules, and that a pragmatic, coalition-based approach is needed to revitalise multilateralism.

Static Topic Bridges

The WTO and the Multilateral Trading System

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established on January 1, 1995, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, est. 1947) as the primary international body governing global trade rules. Its foundational principles include Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment (non-discrimination among members), National Treatment (equal treatment of domestic and foreign goods post-import), and transparency. The WTO currently has 166 member countries, with India being a founding member. WTO decisions on new rules nominally require consensus, which has made comprehensive multilateral agreements increasingly difficult to achieve.

GATT established: 1947 (23 founding members); WTO established: January 1, 1995 (based on Marrakesh Agreement, April 1994).
India: founding WTO member (January 1, 1995).
WTO Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body; meets every two years (MC14 in 2026 follows MC13 held in Abu Dhabi, February 2024).
Doha Development Round (launched 2001): the last comprehensive multilateral trade negotiation; largely stalled due to disagreements between developed and developing nations on agriculture, industrial tariffs, and services.
Key WTO agreements: GATT (goods), GATS (services), TRIPS (intellectual property).

Connection to this news: The stalling of the Doha Round has pushed countries to pursue plurilateral tracks; India's decision on whether to engage with these sub-groups directly affects how much influence it has over emerging global trade norms.

Plurilateral Agreements at the WTO — Definition, Mechanism, and India's Concerns

A plurilateral agreement within the WTO framework is a trade agreement signed by a subset of WTO members, binding only on those who accept it. Unlike multilateral agreements (which bind all WTO members), plurilateral agreements create a "variable geometry" within the WTO. Under the WTO Agreement Annex 4, two plurilateral agreements remain in force: the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and the Civil Aircraft Agreement. More recent plurilateral initiatives — such as the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-commerce and the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement — are negotiated outside Annex 4 by interested members.

Plurilateral agreements bind only participating members; non-participants cannot be compelled to join nor can they claim benefits (no MFN extension).
The Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-commerce: launched 2017, involving 90+ WTO members; covers digital trade rules, data flows, consumer protection — India has not joined.
Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement: concluded by ~120 WTO members in 2023; India and South Africa opposed its inclusion in WTO's formal rulebook, arguing it bypassed multilateral consensus.
India's formal position: plurilateral "critical mass" agreements should not be multilateralised without consensus of all WTO members; developing country interests must not be sidelined.
GATT Article XXIV governs bilateral and regional FTAs; Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement governs formal plurilateral agreements within the WTO structure.

Connection to this news: Experts argue India's blanket refusal to engage with JSI on E-commerce and IFD risks ceding agenda-setting power in emerging trade domains — digital trade rules, investment policy — that will shape India's economic future.

India's Trade Negotiating History and the Emerging Dual-Track Imperative

India's traditional trade negotiating posture has been defensive — focused on protecting policy space for development, agriculture, and public stockholding. India has consistently championed the interests of developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) in WTO forums. At the same time, India has pursued a parallel bilateral FTA track, notably signing the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022 and negotiating FTAs with the EU and UK. A true "dual-track" strategy at the WTO would mean doing the same within the WTO itself — protecting multilateral architecture while selectively engaging in plurilaterals where India has offensive interests (e.g., services liberalisation, mode 4 movement of professionals, pharmaceuticals).

India-UAE CEPA: signed February 18, 2022; entered into force May 1, 2022; first bilateral CEPA in nine years at the time; covers goods, services, and investment.
Mode 4 (movement of natural persons) under GATS: area where India has strong offensive interest — liberalising conditions for Indian IT and healthcare professionals to work abroad.
India's position on Public Stockholding (PSH) for food security: India has resisted any WTO cap on MSP-based procurement arguing it is a development entitlement — this remains one of the most contentious WTO issues.
WTO MC13 (Abu Dhabi, 2024) outcomes included a formal dispute settlement reform roadmap and fisheries subsidies partial agreement; India engaged actively on both.
ICRIER (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations): an autonomous, non-profit research body founded in 1981; advises government on trade and economic policy.

Connection to this news: The dual-track framework recommended by experts mirrors the approach India has already adopted bilaterally — the challenge is extending this pragmatism to the WTO's plurilateral architecture to preserve India's voice in shaping emerging global trade rules.

Key Facts & Data

WTO established: January 1, 1995 (Marrakesh Agreement, April 15, 1994); 166 members as of 2026.
India: founding WTO member; GATT member since 1948.
Doha Development Round: launched at MC4, Doha, November 2001; stalled since approximately 2008.
JSI on E-commerce: 90+ participating WTO members; India a non-participant.
Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement: ~120 members; India opposed multilateralisation.
India-UAE CEPA: signed February 2022; entered into force May 2022.
MFN principle: enshrined in GATT Article I — any trade advantage granted to one WTO member must be extended to all.
GATT Article XXIV.8(b): requires FTAs to cover "substantially all trade" (~90%) for WTO compliance.
WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14): 2026 (follow-up to MC13 in Abu Dhabi, February 2024).