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International Posturing amidst Domestic Neglect: India's Agricultural Policy Examined

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2018

PRIYANSHU GUPTA  and
R. RAJESH BABU
PRIYANSHU GUPTA*
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
R. RAJESH BABU*
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
*
*Email: priyanshug15@iimcal.ac.in.
**Email: rajeshbabu@iimcal.ac.in.
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Abstract

India has actively tried to shape the WTO agricultural negotiations by submitting detailed proposals, building coalitions, and even taking hard stands (veto) at critical junctures. However, this aggressive posturing presents a sharp contrast with India's domestic agricultural space, where the situation highlights policy neglect, manifesting in agrarian distress and farmer suicides. This paper analyzes contradictions between India's internationally espoused negotiating positions and its domestic policy goals. It argues that India's core focus has been to preserve status quo in the domestic food markets, driven by the political need to provide food-based consumption subsidies and manage an assured price and supply protection to its vulnerable consumers. As a result, India's interests are divergent from most of its developing country coalition partners in the G-20 as well as the G-33 groups. Our discussion has significant implications for both the domestic policy, as well as the sustainability of India's strategy in global agricultural trade negotiations.

Type
Review Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , July 2019 , pp. 399 - 429
Copyright
Copyright © Priyanshu Gupta And R. Rajesh Babu 2018 

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Footnotes

The authors would like to thank Ms. Sophia Murphy of Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), University of British Columbia and Prof. Rajesh Bhattacharya and Prof. Manish Thakur of IIM Calcutta for their valuable comments on earlier versions. We also thank the editor and two unnamed referees for providing extensive feedback and help in refining this paper.

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