<p> India is yet to decide who should be the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) although New Delhi has agreed with its BRICS partners that a representative of a developing country should lead the global commerce body.<br /><br /></p>.<p>With quite a few among the nine candidates vying for the WTO chief’s job representing the developing world, New Delhi is finding it difficult to pick one to throw its weight behind. <br />Pascal Lamy of France held the office of the WTO Director General for two four-year terms since 2005. His second term will end on August 31. <br /><br />Though Mari Elka Pangestu, Minister for Tourism for Indonesia and her country’s nominee for the top job at the WTO, was here on Monday to lobby for New Delhi’s support, India refrained from committing its support to her candidature. <br /><br />Pangestu is the only candidate from the South East Asia and her country is a key member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), a bloc with which New Delhi has just upgraded its relations to a strategic partnership. Indonesia is also India’s second largest trading partner in the Asean.<br /><br />India is the largest buyer of crude palm oil from Indonesia. <br /><br />“It is important for me to get the support of India, not only because it is an old friend of Indonesia, but also an emerging economy and a very active player in the WTO affairs,” Pangestu told journalists after speaking at an event at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. <br /><br />She later called on Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to formally seek India’s support for her candidature.<br /><br />New Delhi, however, also has at least two more candidates to consider before making public its choice. They include Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo of Brazil and Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen of Ghana. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is understood to have formally sought India’s support for Azevedo during a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sideline of the BRICS summit in Durban last week. <br /><br />India also has not yet ruled out supporting Kyerematen of Ghana as his candidature has been supported by South Africa, a member of the BRICS, and endorsed by African Union – a bloc with which New Delhi has a long traditional ties. <br /><br />Sources in New Delhi said that India would weigh options carefully over the next few weeks, taking into account its engagements with South East Asia, Africa and Latin America. <br /><br />The WTO’s 159 member-nations will have to select a new chief by May 31. <br /><br />With Pakistan being the chair of the General Council of the WTO, Islamabad’s envoy to the organisation’s highest decision-making body in Geneva, Shahid Bashir, is expected to start consultations with other representatives on Tuesday.<br /><br />India is understood to have proposed that four candidates should be eliminated in the first round of consultations, three in the second round and one in the final and third round. <br /></p>
<p> India is yet to decide who should be the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) although New Delhi has agreed with its BRICS partners that a representative of a developing country should lead the global commerce body.<br /><br /></p>.<p>With quite a few among the nine candidates vying for the WTO chief’s job representing the developing world, New Delhi is finding it difficult to pick one to throw its weight behind. <br />Pascal Lamy of France held the office of the WTO Director General for two four-year terms since 2005. His second term will end on August 31. <br /><br />Though Mari Elka Pangestu, Minister for Tourism for Indonesia and her country’s nominee for the top job at the WTO, was here on Monday to lobby for New Delhi’s support, India refrained from committing its support to her candidature. <br /><br />Pangestu is the only candidate from the South East Asia and her country is a key member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), a bloc with which New Delhi has just upgraded its relations to a strategic partnership. Indonesia is also India’s second largest trading partner in the Asean.<br /><br />India is the largest buyer of crude palm oil from Indonesia. <br /><br />“It is important for me to get the support of India, not only because it is an old friend of Indonesia, but also an emerging economy and a very active player in the WTO affairs,” Pangestu told journalists after speaking at an event at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. <br /><br />She later called on Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to formally seek India’s support for her candidature.<br /><br />New Delhi, however, also has at least two more candidates to consider before making public its choice. They include Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo of Brazil and Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen of Ghana. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is understood to have formally sought India’s support for Azevedo during a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sideline of the BRICS summit in Durban last week. <br /><br />India also has not yet ruled out supporting Kyerematen of Ghana as his candidature has been supported by South Africa, a member of the BRICS, and endorsed by African Union – a bloc with which New Delhi has a long traditional ties. <br /><br />Sources in New Delhi said that India would weigh options carefully over the next few weeks, taking into account its engagements with South East Asia, Africa and Latin America. <br /><br />The WTO’s 159 member-nations will have to select a new chief by May 31. <br /><br />With Pakistan being the chair of the General Council of the WTO, Islamabad’s envoy to the organisation’s highest decision-making body in Geneva, Shahid Bashir, is expected to start consultations with other representatives on Tuesday.<br /><br />India is understood to have proposed that four candidates should be eliminated in the first round of consultations, three in the second round and one in the final and third round. <br /></p>
