At the tenth BRICS Trade Ministers virtual meeting, Goyal emphasised that all partners must be trustworthy and transparent for trade to play its part in the recovery process. The minister also said that BRICS members are among the most affected countries in the world due to the pandemic.
His statement comes a day after Prime minister Narendra Modi emphasized on trust between partner countries as he urged American investors to become a part of India’s growth story amid the stressed India-China relations.
“It is trust and transparency which determines the sustainability of global supply chains and nations must demonstrate their compliance with global rules of trade to remain a part of global trade flow,” he said.
Calling for a removal of multiple hurdles in access to medicines at affordable prices created by the lopsided rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for protecting intellectual property, Goyal said that IPRs should not block access to critical medicines and other devices required for the treatment of the disease.
“It is disheartening that we are seeing some proposals at the WTO seeking to ride on the pandemic for pursuing commercial ends,” Goyal said.
He added: “It will essentially support the quest of developed countries’ firms to have unhindered access to the markets in developing countries, while putting constraints on developing countries to establish domestic manufacturing capacities”.
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