India and the WTO: Issues and Negotiating Strategies (Description and Table of Contents)

This book serves two purposes. It provides a straightforward exposition of the complex issues pertaining to the WTO agreements and negotiations, and it presents rigorous analyses of the impact of the WTO-induced reforms on the Indian economy. The book addresses a number of salient issues, including: why trade liberalization might be beneficial for both developed and developing countries and in their long-run economic interests; what IndiaÕs interests are in a multilateral forum like the WTO and how best India could utilize this forum to realize maximum advantage; whether India has a clear cut and well-defined set of negotiating strategies; how the economic reforms have affected different segments of the economy since the inception of the WTO in 1995; whether the reform measures conform to IndiaÕs long-term economic interests; whether the benefits from the WTO-induced reforms are fairly and evenly distributed across the regions and across the population; and whether there is evidence to support that economic reforms have led to a decrease in income inequality and poverty in India. Our hope accordingly is that this book will contribute towards the understanding of the causality between the actual economic events and the WTO induced reforms.