Lessons for India in China, US pact: Experts

[Ulhas Joglekar]

17 November 1999
Lessons for India in China, US pact: Experts
By Dilip Rangachari
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: China's bilateral trade-liberalisation agreement with the US,
clearing the major hurdle for its entry into the World Trade Organisation,
has lessons for India, note experts.
``It shows how isolated, out-of- touch with the world are Indians who are
fighting to keep out of WTO,'' said Congress' economic affairs spokesman
Jairam Ramesh. ``Here is a formally Marxist regime which for 13 years has
pursued a path, committing itself to a competitive trade regime and has
finally committed itself to a series of major liberalising initiatives,'' he
said.
Professor of development policy at the Delhi School of Economics Suresh
Tendulkar said: ``China obviously calculated that the benefits outweigh the
problems. On the other hand, Indians are still resisting accepting the WTO
discipline.''
Prof Tendulkar said India now had a major competitor in labour- intensive
exports, where the former has had a traditional advantage. ``We'll have to
gear up,'' he said.
While welcoming the agreement between China and US, the Confederation of
Indian Industry said: ``We will have to study the particular implications
for us.''
Ramesh said it was necessary to recognise the importance of the US.
``Ultimately that country is the one which calls the shots and China
recognised this. In fact, in the coming Seattle round of WTO negotiations,
we have far more in common with the US than earlier and the four major areas
we can focus on are agriculture, information technology, electronic commerce
and services.''
Prof Tendulkar said India would have to reduce its labour costs and
continuously raise productivity. With China's entry into WTO, there would be
no scope for relaxation on these fronts, he said.
Commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran, who is leading the Indian
delegation to the Seattle round of WTO talks at the end of this month, began
a series of talks with opposition parties on Tuesday to press some of these
points home.
On Monday, he held talks with Central trade unions. He assured them that
there was no question of accepting any linkage between trade liberalisation
and changes in labour standards.

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