Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said India can play a leading role in driving reforms in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the condition that the consensus of developing and least-developed nations is also taken into consideration to ensure their welfare.
“We would love to lead reforms (at the World Trade Organisation). But that reform will be decided in consultation with other developing and less-developed countries, so that we can truly work for the welfare of the world and not just the agenda of a few developed nations,” he said in Vishakhapatnam on Friday, where the minister participated in the CII Partnership Summit 2025.
Goyal said the world now recognises India’s ability to lead the world in economic affairs, and asserted that the country remains steadfast in being the voice of the Global South.
In response to a question on WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s remarks on India being in a position to lead the world trading body’s reform agenda, the Union minister said India’s position has been consistent in demanding a say and consensus of all member nations.
Okonjo-Iweala also participated in the summit, where she said India’s role in the next Ministerial Conference (MC), to be held in Cameroon in March 2026, would be “extremely” important in that the country is “dynamic, innovative and has many good practices to share with other developing nations”.
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MC is the highest decision-making body of WTO that deals with global trade-related matters. It also adjudicates disputes between the member countries. India has been its member since 1995.
Numerous nations, including developed countries like the US, have long been pushing for reforms in the WTO in areas such as dispute settlement mechanism, special and differential treatment to developing countries, and the way agreements are negotiated in the trading body.
The Geneva-based 166-member organisation maintains that the issue of reforms is a broad one, encompassing many facets of the WTO’s work.
Goyal affirmed he had a meeting with Okonjo-Iweala on the sidelines of the CII summit, and that various issues were discussed.
“We have the demand for a permanent solution to the public stockholding issue. We want the dispute resolution mechanism to be revived. There are many agendas which we discussed,” he said.
Meanwhile, the WTO Director-General, while agreeing that the body would like India to take a lead in strengthening the multi-lateral system, added that both India’s criticism and the US flagging some of it are equally valid.
“Let us use this opportunity of the crisis...to solve the challenges in the WTO and strengthen the system,” she said, adding that India and US being engaged in negotiations to finalise a bilateral trade agreement is a “good thing”.
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