Washington, D.C., associate Kavita Mohan authored an article, "An Update on India and the Doha Round," which was published in the Winter 2010 edition of India Law News, a publication of the India Committee of the American Bar Association's International Law section.
According to Mohan, "India is an important player in the on-going Doha Round negotiations of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"). The collapse of the negotiations in July 2008 was triggered by a stalemate between India and the United States regarding the special safeguard mechanism ("SSM") threshold that would allow developing countries to impose a tariff on imports of agricultural products. Talks were virtually at a standstill the first half of 2009. In July, leaders of the G-8 announced a commitment to a 2010 conclusion of the Doha Round. Shortly thereafter, India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma convened ministers from over 35 WTO member countries to reenergize the negotiations. Officials of key WTO member countries met several times during the last quarter of 2009, both in multilateral and bilateral fora, but have made almost no progress on key issues."
Mohan goes on to recap "several opportunities for WTO member countries, and specifically for India and the United States, to engage in meaningful discussions related to the Doha Round negotiations," including, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit to the United States and his meeting with President Obama, and two meetings between U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Minister Sharma, on the sidelines of the WTO Ministerial Conference.
Mohan concludes: "Some officials at the WTO Ministerial Conference, such as British Trade Minister Gareth Thomas, declared disappointment that WTO members were unable to take the final steps to agree on an outline Doha deal. A high-level meeting is planned for the last week of March 2010 so that members can assess whether concluding the Doha Round in 2010 is a realistic goal."
Click to read the full article, from the ABA website (pg. 21 of the PDF).