India’s trade disputes: Implications for public policy

Abstract

The chapter examines how India proactively participated in WTO dispute settlement by discussing some of the landmark disputes involving India. The discussion highlights how India’s participation in the early years was influenced by its concern to protect small and vulnerable sectors of the economy and, more so, to preserve the status quo. This chapter also discusses how India’s WTO litigation strategies evolved over a period, especially since 2010, in using offensive and defensive strategies in WTO dispute settlement to leverage its economic potential and create policy space for it development needs and strategies. This transformation has emboldened India to pursue a development pathway which is not necessarily shaped and driven by its international commitments.