Back WTO trading system: MEA on Trump’s remark

NEW DELHI : New Delhi on Thursday set aside US President Donald Trump’s remarks questioning the status of India and China as developing countries, saying it “backs a rules-based multilateral trading system “with the World Trade Organisation at its core.

Trump had on Wednesday complained that his country hadn’t been treated fairly by the WTO and said that if China and India are considered developing nations by the trade body, the same status should be accorded to the US.

“China is viewed as a developing nation. India is viewed as a developing nation. We’re not viewed a developing nation,” he told a news conference. Weeks ahead of an expected visit to India, Trump said the two countries had gained “tremendous advantages” by being considered developing nations.

“And they shouldn’t be. But if they are, we are. And we’re talking about a whole new structure for the deal...,” he said.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told a weekly news briefing that Trump had made similar statements in the past.“India has consistently supported the rulesbased multilateral trading system. We place great value on the WTO and the indispensible role of the institution within the rulesbased multilateral trading system,” he said. One of the essential principles of the WTO is “special and differentiated treatment” for developing countries, including the least developed countries, Kumar added.