The Hindu Business Line : The power of three

If proof was required that the India-Brazil-South Africa grouping was an instrument for projecting the views of the developing world more forcefully at international forums, it was to be had at the second IBSA summit just held in Pretoria. If nothing else, the declaration issued at the end of the meeting loudly proclaimed that the grouping had a view on almost every issue being discussed at the international level with precious little being said about stepping up trilate ral trade and other aspects of economic cooperation.

The only concrete reference to trade among the three countries is to be found towards the end of the document, where an exhortation has been made for trilateral trade to reach the $15-billion mark by 2010. The instrument for attaining this specific target is, of course, the projected India-Mercosur-SACU trilateral free trade agreement, which has been facing problems because of differences at the India-Mercosur (South America) level and at the India-SACU (Southern Africa) level. The point is that neither Brazil nor South Africa can engage in bilateral or trilateral trade relations with India without taking their regional groupings into account, which is making the task of expanding trilateral economic ties increasingly difficult. This is perhaps why, barring general statements on the need for cooperation in areas such as health, education, energy, etc., the declaration lays down no precise guidelines on implementation. However, on international issues, the summit has worked overtime, the focus of attention being the ongoing WTO negotiations in which the three countries have provided the developing world much-needed leadership in the campaign against the richer nations laying down the rules. Indeed, as many as 11 paragraphs of the declaration deal with subjects closely connected with the WTO negotiations, the message being that developed countries will be given no quarter in the ongoing negotiations, especially if the rich persist in their effort to divert attention from “development” to the quid pro quo principle.

The main contribution of IBSA, therefore, is its role in altering the terms on which the poor of the world have engaged in economic bargaining with the developed countries. It, therefore, follows that the future of the grouping lies in this specific sphere, and that its existence will be amply justified if it can play the role even more effectively. Certainly, trilateral trade should be increased, and economic relations with groupings such as Mercosur and SACU expanded, but it is to be hoped that IBSA will continue to focus on the WTO and ensure that the last-minute pressure being put by the rich on the poor in the Doha talks is resisted.

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