The rise of bilateralism

Depending solely on bilateral trade agreements is unwise

India has long been committed to multilateralism in trade policy. This commitment was chosen for good reason. Unlike plurilateral trade pacts, which involve a subset of countries, multilateral-trading agreements do not distort trade; and, unlike bilateral-trade agreements, they empower even relatively small trading nations. This latter group can be said to include India, given that the country is involved in only a small fraction of world trade, far less than its proportion of the world’s population or even output. There are signals, however, that this commitment to multilateralism — though it continues to be a rhetorical pillar for Indian delegates