Hours after India refused to sign a global trade agreement at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), despite strong persuasion from the USA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday justified India’s stand saying poverty is a serious issue for developing nations and India will have to first see its national interest while negotiating at international forum.
“Developed countries need to understand the challenges of poverty in developing countries and their Governments’ responsibilities in addressing them, when discussions take place in international forums,” the PM told the US Secretary of State John Kerry when the latter mentioned that India’s refusal to sign the WTO agreement had sent a confusing signal.
“Failure to sign the Trade Facilitation Agreement has sent a confusing signal and undermined image, thats what Prime Minister Modi is trying to send about India,” a US State Department official said after Kerry’s meeting with the PM. Kerry urged India to work towards resolving the issue at the earliest.At Geneva, India insisted that in exchange for signing the Trade Facilitation Agreement, it must see more progress on a parallel pact giving it more freedom to subsidise and stockpile food grains than is allowed by WTO rules.
It is believed that Kerry arrived in India a day in advance to persuade New Delhi to sign the pact. He even said that a compromise was achievable in this regard.
However, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj stressed that India has concerns towards its poor. She said consultations were on in Geneva and she would wait for its outcome. Kerry along with Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker called on Modi. During an hour-long meeting, the two visiting Secretaries briefed PM on the India-US Strategic Dialogue and conveyed that President Barack Obama attached great priority to relations with India.
They expressed that Obama looks forward to a productive and fruitful summit in September in Washington to set an ambitious new agenda to chart a new course in the relationship.Modi outlined his vision for the partnership between India and US in addressing global challenges and supporting India’s own economic transformation. PM talked about opportunities for partnership in trade, investment, clean energy, innovation, education, skill development, agro-processing, youth empowerment, among others.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and other officials were present at the meeting. Meanwhile, the US Trade and Development Agency announced two new projects in India after the Strategic Dialogue on Thursday. USTDA signed an agreement with Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation limited (GETCO) to support the integration of renewable energy sources into its power transmission system as its supply of solar and wind power grows.
This technical assistance will allow GETCO to analyze its power system through modeling and statistical techniques, and to develop strategies to ensure appropriate load balancing and frequency regulation for its transmission operations. This project will be carried out by Quanta Technology, llC (Raleigh, North Carolina).
A cooperation agreement was signed between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to establish an Aviation Security Equipment Testing and Evaluation Program. This would be the first security initiative under the US-India Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP) and will help AAI and BCAS develop clear standards, specifications and testing procedures that align with international systems that scan carry-on luggage, checked baggage and airline passengers.
Three US companies will work with AAI and BCAS to enhance India’s aviation officials’ capacity to effectively test, certify and procure advanced scanning technologies.