Which of the following statements is/are correct?
Statement I: As a WTO member, India has been in the forefront of framing fair global rules and advocating the interests of the developing world.
Statement II: The WTO agreements aim to facilitate multilateral trade among member countries, but not bilateral trade between two countries.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Only Statement I is correct.
India speaks for the developing world in the WTO. The WTO agreements help both bilateral and multilateral trade.
Statement I: As a WTO member, India has been in the forefront of framing fair global rules and advocating the interests of the developing world. — Correct. India has worked for fair global rules and has stood up for the developing countries. It also kept its commitment by removing quantitative restrictions and reducing tariffs.
Statement II: The WTO agreements aim to facilitate multilateral trade among member countries, but not bilateral trade between two countries. — Incorrect. The agreements facilitate international trade, bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade is trade between two countries, so it is covered too.
NCERT (2026-27): “World Trade Organisation (WTO): … The WTO agreements cover trade in goods as well as services to facilitate international trade (bilateral and multilateral) through removal of tariff as well as non-tariff barriers and providing greater market access to all member countries. As an important member of WTO, India has been in the forefront of framing fair global rules, regulations and safeguards and advocating the interests of the developing world. India has kept its commitments towards liberalisation of trade, made in the WTO, by removing quantitative restrictions on imports and reducing tariff rates.” |