GATS Negotiations and India: Evolution and State of Play

India’s negotiating position on services has undergone a paradigm shift since the Uruguay Round. From being a leading opponent of the GATS in the early stages, India has now emerged as one of the champions of services trade liberalisation under GATS. This paper covers the key issues under the purview of the GATS from an Indian perspective and makes important policy suggestions for India on certain sensitive sectors like retail, higher education, audio-visual and legal services. The author argues that India needs to reconsider and reassess its aggressive policy stance on services. Upon resumption of the Doha negotiations, India should refrain from considering any compromise on its interests in agriculture and Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) for pushing through its offensive interests in services.