Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India is ready to take a leadership role in shaping reforms at the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, he stressed that any reform agenda must be designed in consultation with developing and least-developed countries, ensuring it supports global welfare rather than serving the interests of a few advanced economies.

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Reforms Must Prioritise Developing Nations Reform Push Gains Momentum Meeting Ahead of the WTO Ministerial Conference

Speaking at the CII Partnership Summit 2025 in Visakhapatnam, Goyal said the world recognises India’s growing strength and responsible global leadership. He added that India will continue to remain the voice of the Global South.

Reforms Must Prioritise Developing Nations

Goyal highlighted that India supports reforms at the WTO but insists that decisions must be taken through consensus among all member nations.
“We would love to lead reforms… but that reform will be decided in consultation with other developing and less developed countries,” he said.

His comments came in response to remarks by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who said India should take a leadership role in the reform process.

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Reform Push Gains Momentum

Developed countries, including the United States, are pushing for structural changes in the WTO. Current areas of debate include:

The dispute settlement mechanism
Special and differential treatment for developing countries
The process of negotiating WTO agreements

The WTO, which has 166 member nations, describes reforms as a broad issue touching multiple aspects of its functioning.

Meeting Ahead of the WTO Ministerial Conference

Goyal said he also discussed the upcoming 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC)—scheduled to be held in Cameroon in March next year—during his meeting with the WTO Chief.

India raised key issues such as:

A permanent solution to the public stockholding matter
Reviving the dispute resolution mechanism
Advancing India’s existing mandates within the WTO

The Ministerial Conference is the WTO’s highest decision-making body, handling global trade policies and dispute adjudication.

WTO Chief Backs India’s Bigger Role

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said India can play an “extremely important” role at the next conference due to its dynamic economy, innovation, and best practices that benefit developing nations.

She said India’s and other emerging economies’ criticisms of the WTO framework are valid—just as some concerns raised by the US are valid.
She emphasised using the current challenges as an opportunity to strengthen the multilateral trading system.

Ngozi also said it was positive that India is negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US, which currently has unilateral high tariffs in place.

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