India at the WTO: Strategic caution or self-inflicted isolation?

India's approach at the WTO is still driven by a mindset formed in the late 1990s: that saying 'no' is an essential first step that protects policy autonomy, and that resisting new negotiations is the safest way to shield developmental interests.

- SHISHIR PRIYADARSHI

Global trade governance is undergoing its most profound transition in three decades.

Technology, climate policy, and geopolitics are reshaping commerce faster than institutions can cope. The World Trade Organization (WTO)-once the anchor of predictability-is struggling to adapt, as members explore new coalitions and alternative platforms for rulemaking.

This is the backdrop against which India's WTO strategy must be assessed. The institution is no longer the slow-moving but stable arena New Delhi once navigated. It is now a contested space-part negotiation chamber, part exit lounge-where some members still push for reform while others quietly prepare for life beyond it. In such a landscape, India's decisions will shape not only its trade policy but its broader economic trajectory.

INDIA'S PERSISTENT DEFENSIVE POSTURE

India's approach at the WTO is still driven by a mindset formed in the late 1990s: that saying “no” is an essential first step that protects policy autonomy, and that resisting new negotiations is the safest way to shield developmental interests. That logic made sense when India had limited global leverage, modest economic weight, and few domestic buffers.

Today, that context has changed, but the strategy hasn't. Whether on investment facilitation, e-commerce rules, digital trade, environmental goods or emerging disciplines linked to AI, India's instinct remains defensive. It continues to question plurilaterals inside the WTO, even as many developing countries-especially in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America-are increasingly willing to engage with them. What was once a shared developing-country posture is now becoming India's solitary position.