NEW DELHI: A growing part of India’s foreign policy these days is for New Delhi to work hard to change the way India is perceived in the world. In key areas of multilateral engagement like trade and environment, India is famous as the “naysayer” and the “country that loves to say No!” Countries negotiating RCEP have expressed frustration at India’s negotiating attitudes, some going as far as to wish India was out of it.
As India plays host to commerce ministers of over 50 countries on Monday and Tuesday in New Delhi, in a “mini-ministerial” the primary idea, said top government officials, is to change India’s image — from the “no” country to one that is open to engaging others on old and new issues, becoming a facilitator for discussions leading to a consensus, being a problem solver. All of these are new areas for India’s trade officials who have earned their spurs being the international obdurate.
In April, India will also host the international energy forum, again a ministerial meeting with similar intentions — to bring producers, consumers, technology and climate change experts together for what is billed as a “forward-looking” conversation on the future of global energy security.
It was in Buenos Aires ministerial conference that India’s approach drew a lot of criticism. Officials said it wasn’t as if India was in the wrong, it was the “negatively aggressive” negotiating stance that was described as being counter-productive. India wants permanent solutions for the food security issues that were partially resolved with an India-US agreement back in 2014, but until that is done India refused to talk about other emerging issues that have global relevance, like e-commerce, reinforcing its image of being the neighbourhood recalcitrant. Meanwhile, the US has blocked consensus on populating the dispute settlement body. With trade wars looming on the horizon, junking the
WTO is not believed to be in India’s interest.
It is in this backdrop that New Delhi decided to host the mini-ministerial — officials said they don’t expect decisions to happen, but it would provide a platform for commerce and trade ministers to talk about the more important issues in an informal setting — any convergence of views would then be taken up by negotiators in Geneva. “We’re trying to be a facilitator, a problem-solver,” said officials involved in the meeting. It will not change India’s trade strategy, but India hopes to use the event to persuade more countries to its side.
The mini-ministerial also takes off from the success of India’s turnaround on environment negotiations in 2015 — again, a place where Indians shone traditionally as the outliers and naysayers. In 2015, India teamed up with the US to deliver a deal, the Paris Accord. In a rare instance of thinking out of the box, India used a new idea, the
International Solar Alliance, as a negotiating tool, which last week saw a major diplomatic exercise when India hosted over 25 heads of state and government to kick off a solar movement.
The international energy forum in April, will “focus on how global shifts, transition policies and new technologies influence market stability and future investment” said energy minister
Dharmendra Pradhan this week, introducing the forum to envoys of different countries. Hoping to discuss the future of global energy at the forum, which India is co-hosting with China and South Korea, Pradhan said, “India wants a balanced energy market where the supply is not artificially curtailed and consumers pay a fair price.”
Sources said it is important that India evolves its international stance — with the US heading for nasty trade wars and China growing aggressively, there is a space for India to attempt to preserve the current rules-based order, of which India has been one of the biggest beneficiaries.
