• The World Trade Organisation, WTO, ministerial meeting of developing countries will take place on 13-14 of this month in New Delhi.

BACKGROUND:

• The meeting is being held at a time when the multilateral rule-based-trading system is facing serious and grave challenges.
• It will provide an opportunity to the Ministers to discuss various issues and the way forward.
• On the first day, there will be a meeting of senior officers of the participating countries. On the 2nd day, the Ministerial Meeting will be held.
• Sixteen developing countries and six Least Developed Countries are participating in the meeting.
• This meeting at New Delhi is an effort to bring together the developing countries and Least Developed Countries on a platform for sharing common concerns on various issues affecting the WTO and work together to address these issues.
• There have been increasing unilateral measures and counter measures by members, deadlock in key areas of negotiations and the impasse in the Appellate Body, which threaten the very existence of Dispute Settlement Mechanism of the WTO and impacts the position of the WTO as an effective multilateral organisation.
• The current situation has given rise to demands from various quarters to reform the WTO.