“The broader aims and objectives of WTO are to manage and promote international trade in the era of globalization. But the Doha round of negotiations seem doomed due to differences between the developed and the developing countries.” Discuss in the Indian perspective.
Approach · directive: “discuss”
What it asks · Explain the WTO's role, why the Doha Development Agenda stalled over North-South differences, and where India's interests and stand lie.
The question has 3 parts — answer each
- Discuss the WTO's broader aims and objectives in managing and promoting international trade
- Discuss why the Doha Round seems doomed by developed–developing country differences
- Give the Indian perspective: India's interests and stand
Open with · The WTO, set up in 1995, manages trade rules and disputes, and its Doha Round launched in 2001 was meant to be a development round.
Cover
- WTO's role: it administers trade agreements, hosts negotiations and settles disputes; India is a founding member and uses it to seek fairer rules.
- Doha stalemate: talks stuck on agriculture, industrial tariffs (NAMA) and services, with developed countries seeking more market access from emerging economies.
- Agriculture: rich countries' subsidies distort trade, while India and the G-33 seek Special Products and a Special Safeguard Mechanism to protect small farmers.
- Food security: India's public stockholding and MSP procurement clash with WTO subsidy limits; Bali (2013) gave an interim peace clause, with a permanent solution pending.
- Shift in approach: developed countries prefer new issues and plurilateral deals, while India insists on the Doha mandate and development priorities.
- India's stance: defend policy space and livelihood concerns, back multilateralism and trade facilitation, and build coalitions with other developing countries.
Close with · India should keep pressing for a balanced outcome that protects food security and farmers, while pursuing regional trade options in parallel.
Add value (verified)
- The Nairobi Ministerial Declaration (December 2015) openly recorded the split: many members reaffirmed the Doha mandate while others refused, wanting 'new approaches'. WTO, Nairobi Ministerial Declaration, WT/MIN(15)/DEC, 19 December 2015, para 30 ↗“Other Members do not reaffirm the Doha mandates, as they believe new approaches are necessary to achieve meaningful outcomes in multilateral negotiations. Members have different views on how to address the negotiations.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 261 words (UPSC limit 200) · Minimalist IAS
The WTO, established in 1995, administers trade agreements, hosts negotiations and settles disputes so that trade flows predictably in a globalised economy. Its Doha Round, launched in 2001 as a 'development round', remains unfinished fifteen years on.
WTO's aims
- Rule-based, non-discriminatory trade through most-favoured-nation and national treatment; progressive liberalisation; binding dispute settlement; and special and differential treatment for developing members.
Why Doha stalled
- Agriculture: developed countries retain large farm subsidies while pressing emerging economies for market access; developing countries want subsidy cuts first.
- NAMA and services: demands for steep industrial tariff cuts from India, Brazil and China met little movement on farm support.
- Changed approach: the Nairobi Ministerial (December 2015) recorded that some members no longer reaffirm the Doha mandates and prefer 'new approaches' and new issues such as e-commerce and investment, while developing countries insist on finishing Doha first. Nairobi did agree to eliminate agricultural export subsidies.
Indian perspective
- Livelihoods: with millions of small farmers, India and the G-33 demand Special Products and a Special Safeguard Mechanism against import surges.
- Food security: MSP procurement and public stockholding can breach WTO subsidy limits; the Bali peace clause (2013) is interim, and a permanent solution is still pending.
- Strategy: defend policy space, hold developed countries to the development mandate, support trade facilitation, and build coalitions with other developing countries; the government also pursues regional and bilateral options in parallel.
The Doha impasse reflects a real North–South divide rather than a failure of the WTO itself; India's interest lies in keeping multilateral rules alive while securing farm livelihoods and food security within them.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.