New Delhi: India has intensified its pressure on the global transparency of trade, directly challenged the US and several other nations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) over their agricultural subsidies.
This offensive comes on the heels of the US, which rejected India’s objections in a recent business dispute, which signals a new, more assertive strategy of the new Delhi to ensure that agricultural policy control is a two -way street.
The core of Indian criticism is several American initiatives, including a supplementary program for assistance in disasters of $ 16 billion and the National Action Plan on Farm Security, according to WTO paper issued on September 17th.
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For scheduled session 25.-26. September at the WTO for agriculture of India, India demanded why these new schemes needed next to existing support, how “shallow losses” are defined and what financial measures are taken to promote US exports of agriculture, according to the document.
Indian questions exceed the US. New Delhi has submitted more than a dozen questions for Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Paraguay, Switzerland and Thailand. Specific questions of target schemes, such as an Australian initiative for access to the gardening market, Brazil ECO Invest Program and Canadian irrigation subsidies, according to the WTO document.
According to experts, this strategy serves a double purpose. On the one hand, it is a defensive tactic that preliminates the criticism of Indian large programs of public stocks and minimal prices (SME), which are often examined by developed nations. On the other hand, it is an offensive step that reveals what India considers to be hypocrisy and lack of transparency between countries that often require more developing economies.
“By strengthening the US and others, India sends a message that control cannot be unilateral. If the developed members continue to introduce new support without transparency, the credibility of the WTO subsidy rules is at risk,” said AMIT Singh, Associate Professor.
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This pressure on transparency is particularly significant because it is building an Indian case before the next WTO Ministry, where agricultural subsidies and public reserves are expected to dominate. This step underlines the position of India that fair global agricultural trade can only be achieved if all members follow the same strict transparency standards.
However, the situation is complicated because India itself has the longest list of waiting questions in the WTO, with hundreds of unanswered questions from other members, some of whom have been dating for decades. The updated note of the WTO, issued by September 8, was given 186 unanswered questions from 2013 to 2023, along with another 51 since 2024, of which India has had 30 waiting since 5 September.
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India itself operates one of the largest food security systems in the world and provides subsidized grains to more than 800 million people through their National Food Security Act and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kayan Anna Yojana. These programs together with the entry subsidies for farmers form an important part of the nation’s budget with more than £1.5 trillion spent only in FY25.
(Tagstotranslate) India WTO
