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New Delhi/Johannesburg, Nov 22 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held talks with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg. The Prime Minister shared a brief note about the meeting in a post on Instagram.
“Spoke with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg,” the Prime Minister wrote.
Although details of the discussions were not immediately made public, the meeting came at a time when a number of trade-related issues feature prominently on both the G20 agenda and ongoing WTO consultations. India is engaging with the WTO on matters related to agricultural aid, food security, fisheries subsidies, e-commerce rules and reforms in the multilateral trading system.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is participating in the G20 deliberations as part of invited international organizations contributing to sessions on global economic stability, supply chain resilience, trade facilitation and the needs of developing economies. India has consistently maintained that multilateral trade rules must be balanced and responsive to the concerns of the Global South.
The Prime Minister and the WTO Director-General have met in several international fora in recent years, notably during India’s G20 presidency and during ministerial-level talks convened by the WTO. India has previously underlined the need to safeguard the policy positions of developing countries in areas such as public stockholding for food security and domestic support for small farmers.
The talks in Johannesburg came on a day when the Prime Minister was due to have extensive bilateral and multilateral engagements on the sidelines of the G20 proceedings. The summit includes discussions on global economic recovery, digital transformation, reform of global institutions, sustainability goals and cooperation on international supply chains.
The WTO chief has repeatedly stressed the importance of strengthening the rules-based global trade framework and ensuring that developing countries benefit from global commerce. India is engaged in the ongoing WTO negotiations on issues including fisheries, agrarian reforms and the future of customs duty restrictions on electronic transmissions.
The brief conversation between PM Modi and Dr Okonjo-Iweala adds to the series of interactions India is having with global economic institutions at the summit.
–IANS
PGH/UK