India 'convinced' WTO talks will be successful

GENEVA — India is convinced that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference will be among the most successful held for many years, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

Goyal is the man in the spotlight at the WTO's 12th gathering of trade ministers (MC12), being held at its headquarters in Geneva, where talks were coming to the crunch after going through the night and into an extra fifth day.

Several diplomats have been blaming India for being intransigent across all the topics being thrashed out at the global trade body — where objection from any one of its 164 members can block an agreement.

But Goyal said he thought the negotiations would be a success, unlike the last conference in 2017 in Buenos Aires which concluded without a major agreement.

"India is convinced that this will turn out to be one of the most successful ministerials that the WTO has seen in a long time," Goyal told reporters at the organisation's HQ.

Goyal said many people had written off the conference on Wednesday — scheduled to be the closing day — when ministers gathered for talks with WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

"We could see that the mood was very crestfallen," he said.

"India took the lead to try and bring everybody together to start talking about subjects, talking on specific issues in smaller groups."

"Everybody got enthused into working together to find solutions."

"There was a lot of sensitivity to each others' concerns and needs."

"In that spirit the outcomes of MC12 are being watched by the world as a signal that the multilateral order is not broken."

Countries have been trading off concessions on the different deals through Wednesday night and beyond in a bid to see if one over-arching package can be stitched together.

Ministers are seeking deals on curbing harmful fishing subsidies; temporarily waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents; food security; agriculture; e-commerce; the WTO's response to pandemics; and reform of the organisation itself.

"We are very confident that the progress made... and the positivity with which everybody is engaged truly is a matter of celebration for the world," said Goyal.

"We have taken some solid decisions, probably after seven years, for the first time, subject to a few issues being sorted out."

He added: "Nothing is done until every is done and I'm sure that that spirit will help us cross the hump."

Countries have spent more than two decades trying to reach agreement through the WTO on curbing harmful fishing subsidies.

Goyal on Tuesday said it would be "impossible" to finalise the MC12 negotiations without a 25-year exemption — far longer than many are comfortable with — calling the draft text "completely unacceptable".