ISAS Briefs

The serene ripples of Lake Geneva in no way reflected the waves that were being created this summer within the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) located at its shores. These were being caused by the policy or at least the negotiating strategy employed by the new nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. Single-handedly his representatives blocked the passage of a Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), to the dismay of many of the world’s rich and powerful countries, as well as a number of large emerging nations. According to some supportive analysts, the TFA would have added US $1 trillion to the global economy and created 21 million jobs.