India faces uphill task at WTO on grain stocks, special safeguards

As the country faces a tough fight on issues it considers dear at the WTO

India faces a tough fight on issues it considers dear at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the run-up to a ministerial conference later this year in Argentina.

While the visit by WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo to India focused on issues like e-commerce and a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) on goods, topics pushed by New Delhi in the multilateral platform did not attract much attention. These include a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding of foodgrain and discussions on a special safeguard mechanism apart from a trade facilitation agreement on services.

On food procurement and permanent