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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss cooperation on issues related to small and medium enterprises (SME), e-commerce and the World Trade Organisation with his counterparts at the BRICS summit in Russia later this week.
The two-day meet of leaders from BRICS nations, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, beginning Wednesday, will mostly focus on economic cooperation, a Government official told BusinessLine .
“While India will give its full support for proposed cooperation in the SME sector and the WTO, it will express its reservations in e-commerce,” the official added.
Most BRICS members, especially Russia, want to create a barrier-free environment for development of e-commerce between partner countries. While PM Modi may support joint discussions for development of e-commerce in the BRICS countries, he would insist that it happen within the existing policy framework in each country, the official said. India, at present, allows 100 per cent FDI in business-to-business e-commerce but bars it in the business-to-consumer segment.
WTO strategyThe five-nations grouping will work on a joint strategy for a work programme at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The next WTO Ministerial meet at Nairobi in December will focus on reaching an agreement on select issues from the whole gamut of areas being negotiated under the Doha Round launched in 2001.
“The BRICS nations need to work together to ensure that the developed countries do not get away by pushing for only the issues of interest to them and that developing country interests are also taken care of,” the official said.
Other meetingsFinance Minister Arun Jaitley is scheduled to attend the inaugural meeting of the BRICS-backed New Development Bank on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting, while Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will participate in the meeting of trade ministers. Modi is also likely to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from South Africa and China on the sidelines of the BRICS meetings.
Following the BRICS meeting, Modi will attend the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Russia as an observer. The SCO consists of six member-states from Eurasia. India has expressed its interest to become a full-fledged member of the SCO to play a larger role in the region.
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