India will push for a development-focused overhaul of global trade rules, along with progress on e-commerce, fisheries subsidies, and agriculture, at the World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) beginning 26 March in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the commerce ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The four-day meeting will bring together trade ministers from WTO member countries to deliberate on key issues, including organizational reform, e-commerce work programme and moratorium, Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD), fisheries subsidies, and long-standing concerns related to agriculture and development.
India’s delegation, led by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, is expected to adopt a “constructive, balanced, and development-oriented” approach. The official press statement said New Delhi will emphasize strengthening the multilateral trading system while ensuring that development concerns remain central to negotiations.
The major priority for India will be securing a permanent solution on public stockholding (PSH) for food security, a critical issue given the country’s reliance on the minimum support price (MSP) system to support low-income farmers. India is also expected to push for effective special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions for developing and least developed countries, and for restoring a fully functional dispute settlement mechanism within the WTO.
On fisheries subsidies, the country will advocate a balanced framework that addresses sustainability while protecting the livelihoods of small fishers. It is also likely to call for greater responsibility from distant-water fishing nations in reducing their large-scale fishing capacities.
Also Read | India joins push to cut remittance costs ahead of WTO ministerial meet
It will further underline the need for policy space in emerging areas such as digital trade, particularly in the context of the ongoing debate on extending the e-commerce moratorium. The country has maintained that rapidly evolving technologies require flexible regulatory approaches for developing economies.
Investments and bilateral trade deals On investment facilitation, India is expected to support measures that help channel investment flows into developing countries, including least developed nations.
In the run-up to the conference, India has consistently stressed the importance of an open, fair, inclusive, and non-discriminatory trading system, rooted in WTO principles such as non-discrimination under the Marrakesh Agreement.
Alongside multilateral discussions, it will also use the sidelines of the MC14 to advance bilateral trade engagements. Recent progress includes free trade agreements with the UK and Oman, as well as ongoing negotiations with partners such as the European Union and New Zealand, the statement said.