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India's 'equal rights' demand has brought WTO impasse close to end

Strong leadership in India and substantive arguments led to resolution of differences on food security related issues and paved the way for ending the impasse at the WTO soon, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

India's voice is not just heard but taken seriously at global institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and G-20, she added. Talking about WTO, she said in July members labelled India as the deal breaker, but thanks to the country's strong leadership New Delhi managed to convince the multilateral body about its legitimate demand. '...we wouldn't have reached a stage where we can say that we are closer to a solution and we probably will get over the impasse. It's only because you were able to as a country stand up with strength, argue with substance and negotiate with equal rights,' she said at the World Hindu Economic Forum.

'...because of the kind of leadership with which we were able to project India, that is a very big difference,' she added. 'It leads you to be taken seriously...India is now not just seeking high table, it is being invited to the high table only because the sagging European and North American economies depend on emerging economies like India for solutions to revive their economies,' she said. Recently India and the US successfully resolved their differences relating to the issue of public stock holding for food security purposes, paving the way for a breakthrough to end the three-month long stalemate at WTO.
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