This week could be pivotal in deciding who will be the next director-general of the WTO.

The ruling by the Swiss Criminal Court shows a mirror to the seemingly crumbling Indian legal watchdogs, particularly during the past two years.

“We like fighting each other, we are also kind to each other; we like making alliances, we like our divisions,” says Dipesh Chakrabarty, the renowned Indian historian known for his seminal work in postcolonial theory and subaltern studies.  

As the institution celebrates its 60th anniversary next week, the current leadership appears determined to bury its past achievements in an effort to 're-brand' it as a 'forward-looking' institution attuned to the 'new complexities of the global economy'.

It is a common practice in international negotiations not to agree to proposals going against existing national law. But at the WIPO Diplomatic Conference, India allowed a treaty that seemingly goes against the Indian Patents Act.

Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said the e-commerce moratorium favoured big tech firms and undermined the prospects of competitors in developing nations. Yet, on the final day of the conference, he took a U-turn and allowed it to continue for another two years for free.

With one summit concluded and another set to begin on February 26, tensions rise as trade ministers gather amidst war, a deteriorating international landscape, and escalating geopolitical and geoeconomic pressures.

So far, the track record of the Narendra Modi government in standing firm against the Global North, particularly Washington, on e-commerce moratorium has been anything but beneficial for the country’s nascent digital industry.

At the upcoming WTO's biennial trade ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi, it will become clear whether India fights for its farmers or yields ground to Uncle Sam on one of the most crucial issues for poor farmers in developing countries.

We have previously expressed concern about the shrinking of civic space in India, in particular for independent journalists and activists, and yesterday’s events may have a further chilling effect,” a spokesperson for the office of the commissioner said.

Despite the hype about India's G20 presidency, the New Delhi Declaration seems to have rehashed the previous G20 Leaders' Statements with some inconsequential additions here and there with little impact.

The G20 meetings are never seen as transformative. But the hype and the high-pitched campaign witnessed since last December when India took the baton for holding the G20 Presidency from Indonesia seemed somewhat incongruous with the milestones it propagandised.

The BRICS summit brought the central challenges facing the developing and least-developed countries in the multilateral trading system to the centerstage.

The US seems determined to decimate the two-tier dispute settlement system at the World Trade Organization. It is against this backdrop, the upcoming G20 trade ministerial meeting on August 25-26 in Jaipur assumes significance.

Gaddar dedicated his life to the cause of awakening the rural poor through his powerful folk songs

India’s apparent desperation to showcase the success of its G20 presidency has allegedly forced it to support the agenda of developed countries. 

A cursory glance at some of these security-driven trade alliances, ostensibly cobbled together worldwide against China, suggests a new form of 'colonialism' is on the anvil.

Recently, India has fired an opening salvo against the increasing use of unilateral measures under the garb of environmental measures to address climate change.

The latest report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said India's growth rate would come down from the last year's 8.2% due to higher financing costs and weaker public expenditures.

The biggest winner from MC12 is the European Union. It succeeded in diluting the TRIPS waiver, secured an open-ended mandate on WTO reform with elements of its preference, and almost preserved the flexibility to subsidise distant water fishing.