India continued to remain engaged with all partners, though pressure is mounting on it. The discussion around meeting rooms is that nearly all other issues - trade facilitation and development - are settled, and if India falls in line on the issue of food security, the WTO Bali Ministerial will be successful.
The pressure on India, this time round, is not just from developed countries but also from other developing countries, especially Indonesia, which is keen on a successful Ministerial. Indonesia is the Chair of the G33 grouping, which has put the food security proposal on the table.
The whole debate in Bali seems to be on the issue of India not accepting a four-year peace clause, which ostensibly is a great offer on the table. It is also being pointed out that if India loses the opportunity to take the peace clause now, then the offer might never be made again. What is important is while India's strategy in putting its point across may be faulted by many, the purpose seems fine.
As of now, there is no indication that if talks do not conclude with the four-year timeframe of the peace clause, then what would be the fallout for India. While things would change every minute at Bali with only two full days left for any negotiations, what may be expected from India is a draft suggesting changes to the current proposition on the table. While India would not have the liberty to completely change the current position, it can add a line or two in the draft text, which addresses its concerns. Hopefully, we would see this contribution from India soon.
Businesses across the globe who have converged at Bali are a worried lot as well. They are concerned that a "political issue" may wreck their market access issue - a trade facilitation agreement. These industry delegations have been meeting negotiators from various countries to look at how a Bali package can be saved.
The Bali package, which is an early harvest under the Doha Round, may actually need more than a consensus on the food security to survive. Importantly, the least developed countries that have been supportive of the current draft on the table will start reading the fine print in the agreement once everything is finalised. Therefore, it is important that instead of only bothering about India, negotiators also keep tabs on the aspirations of the least developed countries. With the meeting entering its final lap on Thursday, all eyes would be on the Director General Roberto Azevêdo to see if he can finally pull a deal together. Sleepless nights and coffee is what we can look forward to at Bali over the next two days.
The writer is principal advisor, APJ-SLG Law Offices
