The Financial Times reported on October 23 that India continues to oppose China's proposal for investment facilitation at the World Trade Organization (WTO) - the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA). On October 7, during a meeting of the WTO General Council, India stated that IFDA would bring systemic and legal negative impacts, warning that unauthorized and non-multilateral issues should not be included in the WTO's formal agenda, as this could "violate the organization's basic framework," and urged the WTO Secretariat to remain neutral in related discussions. It is understood that IFDA is the world's first multilateral investment agreement, proposed by China in 2017 at the WTO, aiming to "improve the global investment environment and promote international cooperation," especially focusing on "benefiting developing countries and least developed countries." The proposal aims to establish an investment pre-review or appeal system through an independent body to regulate members' investment management. Over 120 members have supported incorporating the proposal into WTO Annex-4. According to the annex regulations, the agreement is binding only on signatory countries. In 2023, India stated, "IFDA is binding only on signatory countries, not on other members, which violates the basic rules of consensus decision-making at the WTO and weakens the multilateral nature of the WTO. Some countries attempt to unilaterally influence multilateral institutions, and India opposes such measures."
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846919375820809/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.