• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Bargaining at the global level

Chitra Phadnis

Indian negotiating skills are put to the ultimate test at international forums where every country is out to wangle the best deal for itself.

Take the WTO agreements. At a recent seminar, Suhail Nathani, an advocate specialising on WTO issues and a member of the Court of International Trade, pointed out that India had not reserved the right to some very important clauses and thereby lost out on their advantages.

For instance, a clause under Article 5 allows countries to increase import duty in special cases, without any need to show ``injury to the domestic market'' -- an effective anti-dumping measure for which India has not reserved rights.

Yet another agreement on rubber needs to be renegotiated, said Nathani. Indian rubber is an agricultural product and distinct from the synthetic rubber manufactured in most other countries. Yet, India has agreed to club its produce with t he rest, resulting in a lower bound rate of 25 per cent instead of the 100-150 per cent reserved for agricultural commodities.

The muddling on WTO agreements partly owes to the fact that Indian industry was never involved in the decision-making, even at the national-level, said Ramappa, Secretary of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI). In contrast, developed countries always include lawyers and industry representatives in their delegations, he said.

``It is not that we are not good at negotiating,'' said Bose Mandanna, Vice-Chairman of the Coffee Board who recently represented the country at an international coffee meet. But the delegate is often ill-equipped and he/she fails to get what the country wants, he adds.

Colombia, for example, has been sending the same representative for the past 25 years. This helps in establishing a rapport and a sense of continuity which aids the negotiating process. ``In India, we take turns at going to such meetings and it i s always the first time,'' Mandanna said.

Moreover, the Indian delegation rarely has the funds to indulge in PR exercises as the others do, he lamented. ``We are not even allowed to go a couple of days earlier to gauge the mood and find out the others' views.''

``When you are a one-man delegation, it is impossible to concentrate and listen to the others from 10 in the morning to 10 at night and be mentally alert to negotiate,'' Mandanna said.

``What we really need is a team, including terrific PR people.''The Indian team also lost out because it was not headed by a minister or an ambassador.

``Besides, the representative needs to have decision-making power. He cannot keep saying, `We'll go back and tell you later what the authorities say'.''