Last year’s dust-up over the Devyani Khobragade issue might have left the impression that it was the only sticking point in relations between India and the United States. Much of the commentary around that time asserted that the two large, liberal democracies agreed on most things, with only the weight of recent history creating a level of distrust that didn’t have any basis in policy. One of the main concerns right before the Khobragade incident was the problem of drift: the suggestion that India and America largely agree, but did not have any particularly big project to work towards.
Behind the scenes, however, the relationship is more complicated. New Delhi’s decision last week to stand in the way of the World Trade Organisation’s Bali Package was just one example of a clash with the United States at international fora. US Secretary of State John Kerry visits New Delhi this week for a strategic dialogue, and in September Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Washington DC, so it’s worth pointing out that the conversation could get frosty very quickly indeed if any of the following five topics come up.
Bali Trade Deal
For the moment, the disagreement over the WTO’s Bali Package for trade facilitation is the most prominent battle between the two countries. India has found itself standing almost alone against a deal that had been approved by the WTO membership last year, in what could have been the organisation’s first comprehensive agreement to liberalise trading standards and reduce red tape. India is demanding assurances that its interests with regards to food security will be upheld alongside any attempt to move forward on trade liberalisation. The United States has expressed “deep disappointment” with the obstruction.
Intellectual Property Rights
The United States Trade Representative office has India on the Special Priority Watch List portion of its Special 301 index, which lists out countries that Washington DC believes do not do enough to protect US intellectual property. Among other things, the USTR lists out the high level of “camcording” and the generally weak enforcement of copyright protection when it comes to film, television or radio content.
The report also lists out concerns on everything from the trade secrets enforcement regime to counterfeiting, but Indians have often argued that other countries, such as the Philippines, have been taken off the watch list when it suits American interests, despite similar IP rights regimes. The US has announced that it will conduct an out-of-cycle review of India this year, considering the new incoming government, but it remains to be seen what that will lead to.
TRIPS
One of the most significant American concerns about India’s IPR regime involves big pharmaceutical companies. Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a petition from American pharma giant Novartis that would have given it the right to demand royalties from companies producing generic versions of its drugs even after the stipulated period. The decision, along with India’s insistence that this fits in with the international intellectual property rights agreement known as TRIPS, has prompted many to suggest that New Delhi is at the forefront of a third world fight to change the global patent regime and keep drugs cheap.
Trade Subsidies
The Bali Package and food security are not the only issues on which India and the United States disagree when it comes to import-export duties. Here’s a sample of headlines from recent months: WTO panel faults US import duties on Indian steel; India’s export subsidy for sugar questioned at WTO meet; India-US solar issue: WTO sets up dispute panel; EU lifts poultry meat ban while US complains to WTO of Indian embargo.
This might not be be substantially different from natural bilateral disagreements between any two countries, yet the sizes of both the markets coupled with the desire to take the issue up at WTO dispute panels suggests the two countries have lots of different things to talk about when they get together this week to discuss trade relations.
United Nations
When it comes to important votes in the United Nations General Assembly, the two largest democracies are usually on opposite sides. After Russia’s invasion of the Crimea, India said simply that there were “legitimate Russian interests involved,” and chose not to censure Russian President Vladimir Putin – earning praise from him in response. On the very same day, India abstained on an American-led resolution calling for an independent investigation into crimes that took place during the Sri Lankan civil war. And, most recently, New Delhi’s representative to the UN voted for an international probe into Israel’s “disproportionate usage of force” against Gaza in its current offensive there.
Clearly, simply settling the issue of why a diplomat was arrested and badly treated by US authorities is not the only sticking point in the potential deepening of ties between the two countries.
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Behind the scenes, however, the relationship is more complicated. New Delhi’s decision last week to stand in the way of the World Trade Organisation’s Bali Package was just one example of a clash with the United States at international fora. US Secretary of State John Kerry visits New Delhi this week for a strategic dialogue, and in September Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Washington DC, so it’s worth pointing out that the conversation could get frosty very quickly indeed if any of the following five topics come up.
Bali Trade Deal
For the moment, the disagreement over the WTO’s Bali Package for trade facilitation is the most prominent battle between the two countries. India has found itself standing almost alone against a deal that had been approved by the WTO membership last year, in what could have been the organisation’s first comprehensive agreement to liberalise trading standards and reduce red tape. India is demanding assurances that its interests with regards to food security will be upheld alongside any attempt to move forward on trade liberalisation. The United States has expressed “deep disappointment” with the obstruction.
Intellectual Property Rights
The United States Trade Representative office has India on the Special Priority Watch List portion of its Special 301 index, which lists out countries that Washington DC believes do not do enough to protect US intellectual property. Among other things, the USTR lists out the high level of “camcording” and the generally weak enforcement of copyright protection when it comes to film, television or radio content.
The report also lists out concerns on everything from the trade secrets enforcement regime to counterfeiting, but Indians have often argued that other countries, such as the Philippines, have been taken off the watch list when it suits American interests, despite similar IP rights regimes. The US has announced that it will conduct an out-of-cycle review of India this year, considering the new incoming government, but it remains to be seen what that will lead to.
TRIPS
One of the most significant American concerns about India’s IPR regime involves big pharmaceutical companies. Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a petition from American pharma giant Novartis that would have given it the right to demand royalties from companies producing generic versions of its drugs even after the stipulated period. The decision, along with India’s insistence that this fits in with the international intellectual property rights agreement known as TRIPS, has prompted many to suggest that New Delhi is at the forefront of a third world fight to change the global patent regime and keep drugs cheap.
Trade Subsidies
The Bali Package and food security are not the only issues on which India and the United States disagree when it comes to import-export duties. Here’s a sample of headlines from recent months: WTO panel faults US import duties on Indian steel; India’s export subsidy for sugar questioned at WTO meet; India-US solar issue: WTO sets up dispute panel; EU lifts poultry meat ban while US complains to WTO of Indian embargo.
This might not be be substantially different from natural bilateral disagreements between any two countries, yet the sizes of both the markets coupled with the desire to take the issue up at WTO dispute panels suggests the two countries have lots of different things to talk about when they get together this week to discuss trade relations.
United Nations
When it comes to important votes in the United Nations General Assembly, the two largest democracies are usually on opposite sides. After Russia’s invasion of the Crimea, India said simply that there were “legitimate Russian interests involved,” and chose not to censure Russian President Vladimir Putin – earning praise from him in response. On the very same day, India abstained on an American-led resolution calling for an independent investigation into crimes that took place during the Sri Lankan civil war. And, most recently, New Delhi’s representative to the UN voted for an international probe into Israel’s “disproportionate usage of force” against Gaza in its current offensive there.
Clearly, simply settling the issue of why a diplomat was arrested and badly treated by US authorities is not the only sticking point in the potential deepening of ties between the two countries.
